CS-2016-txt-ART.indd 22
22
THE CURIOUS SIGN OF THE MANGER
Review copy only—not for distribution.
plenty more. You certainly don’t sleep out in the
paddock at night to protect them.
But in the first century, when Jesus lived,
shepherding was a personal thing. The flocks
were small, and they were a communal investment and concern. They provided wool for a
family’s clothing and meat for their food. If there
was a scattering of goats among them, then you
had access to milk as well. Each shepherd knew
every one of the sheep in his care, maybe even by
name. He would call or whistle, and they would
come running. It was almost like they were
domestic pets in some strange, ‘out-doorsy’ way.
At night, various local shepherds would join
their flocks together for safety and convenience,
and together, they would watch over each other’s
animals, taking turns to sleep and eat and so on.
In the first century, the shepherd’s job was a job
of serious communal responsibility, and every
sheep was important.
The sheep may have been important, but the
shepherds definitely weren’t. They lived outside
the city, fringe dwellers doing a lowly paid and
unglamorous job. They certainly weren’t the
12/09/2016 1:02 PM