Our curiosity arises when we note that Luke’s Gospel mentions the shepherds to whom the angels announced Jesus’ birth were “watching their flock by night.” Typically sheep and goats grazed during the day and were brought into sheepfolds for the night.

The unusual conduct of the shepherds who were in the field at night and not in a sheepfold may indicate that they were not ordinary shepherds, but rather Temple shepherds in charge of the flocks that were destined for sacrifice. Those flocks required continuous supervision in order to ensure their unblemished quality.

The fact that the Lord would make an angelic proclamation of the Messiah’s birth to a group of shepherds, whether they were ordinary or Temple herdsmen, is surprising, because in first-century Judaism shepherds were involved in what was considered a despised vocation. The vocation was particularly frowned upon as it was considered a job taken up by thieves. As a result, rabbinic law forbade people from buying byproducts of sheep or goats directly from the shepherd.

Thus the angel, rather than making the announcement of the Messiah’s birth to the rich and famous, delivered this great news to Israel’s social outcasts who were doing the undesirable night duty in the harvested grain fields near Bethlehem.

As well, it may be that the announcement of the birth of “the lamb of God” who takes away the sins of the world was made in the presence of unblemished sacrificial lambs; for centuries their ilk had foreshadowed the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus the Messiah.