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Dec. 6th, 2005 02:40 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
anotherusedpageWarning for... subversive religiousness. Don't mind me. G rated.
This is the story the way you’ve heard it:
There were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.
I can quote you chapter and verse. Gospel of Luke, second book, eight to eleven. Not a bad kid, Luke; he had some of it right. Of course, they all had some of it right. But it was Luke that remembered the shepherds. We all know the shepherds were there, right? But it was only Luke that remembered.
Matthew remembers the wise men, remembers the slaughter of innocents, and the star, and the symbols. They missed the shepherds, you know. Whatever the nativity on your Christmas card shows, they never appear side by side, the wise men and the shepherds. They missed each other by days, or by thousands of words of text, depending on how you look at it.
But they were both there, alright. I can tell you that.
Led by a star from far in the east. It was important. The gifts, kingship and priesthood and sacrificial death, that was what they offered, and the death of children followed in their wake. Just the sort of symbol Upstairs approves of.
Of course, shepherds are symbolic too. He gets called the Good Shepherd. John said so. He really knew how to make words into symbols, did John, and the words become everything. Jesus is the Shepherd of the people, and at his birth, he should be surrounded by his own, right?
Well, I thought so.
He’s the saviour of all mankind. He shall exalt the humble and meek. That’s what they say, right?
Upstairs only wanted the kings at his birth, really. Wanted it all to be dignified, see? How silently, how silently the wondrous gift is given. A calm birth, a gentle birth. The blood and sacrifice comes later. Everything neat, nothing too lowly. He was the people’s saviour, of course, but the manger was enough of a nod in that direction. Best keep the proletariat out. Kingly gifts for mankind’s new king.
Well, I wasn’t going to hold with that.
While shepherds watched their flocks by night, all seated on the ground, an angel of the Lord…
… broke his curfew, and broke the rules, and spread the message to those who needed to hear it.
Upstairs followed after me, of course. A multitude of the heavenly host appeared – the only one in the new testament, if I recall, an angelic heavy-mob to silence the messenger of the word of God – but they were too late. All they could do was damage control. Glory to God in the highest. Peace to men on earth. Try and clear them out the stable before the wise men arrive, won’t you Gabriel? Yes, yes, goodwill to all men, we know, we know. That’s not the damn point, not tonight.
Goodwill to all mankind was never going to be an easy message to stomach now was it?
He remembered the shepherds. He always had a good head for the symbolic, that boy. Kingship and priesthood and sacrificial death were all very well, and he knew their place, but he knew too why it was so important for those men of the land to have been there at his birth. Later, much later, He said unto anyone who would shut up and listen, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. Matthew, Mark and Luke all remembered that one.
***
Fandom: the Bible.
Disclaimer: Ummm... the Son of God pretty much belongs to himself, I hope. This version of Gabriel mostly belongs toopportunemoment though. The bible quotes are all King James.
AN: Y'know, sometimes, I think Jesus must've really pissed off his father. No more sacrifices, no more wroth... somehow I don't think the old testament God of Judgement would've given his son an easy ride. :P
No offence is meant by this.
This is the story the way you’ve heard it:
There were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.
I can quote you chapter and verse. Gospel of Luke, second book, eight to eleven. Not a bad kid, Luke; he had some of it right. Of course, they all had some of it right. But it was Luke that remembered the shepherds. We all know the shepherds were there, right? But it was only Luke that remembered.
Matthew remembers the wise men, remembers the slaughter of innocents, and the star, and the symbols. They missed the shepherds, you know. Whatever the nativity on your Christmas card shows, they never appear side by side, the wise men and the shepherds. They missed each other by days, or by thousands of words of text, depending on how you look at it.
But they were both there, alright. I can tell you that.
Led by a star from far in the east. It was important. The gifts, kingship and priesthood and sacrificial death, that was what they offered, and the death of children followed in their wake. Just the sort of symbol Upstairs approves of.
Of course, shepherds are symbolic too. He gets called the Good Shepherd. John said so. He really knew how to make words into symbols, did John, and the words become everything. Jesus is the Shepherd of the people, and at his birth, he should be surrounded by his own, right?
Well, I thought so.
He’s the saviour of all mankind. He shall exalt the humble and meek. That’s what they say, right?
Upstairs only wanted the kings at his birth, really. Wanted it all to be dignified, see? How silently, how silently the wondrous gift is given. A calm birth, a gentle birth. The blood and sacrifice comes later. Everything neat, nothing too lowly. He was the people’s saviour, of course, but the manger was enough of a nod in that direction. Best keep the proletariat out. Kingly gifts for mankind’s new king.
Well, I wasn’t going to hold with that.
While shepherds watched their flocks by night, all seated on the ground, an angel of the Lord…
… broke his curfew, and broke the rules, and spread the message to those who needed to hear it.
Upstairs followed after me, of course. A multitude of the heavenly host appeared – the only one in the new testament, if I recall, an angelic heavy-mob to silence the messenger of the word of God – but they were too late. All they could do was damage control. Glory to God in the highest. Peace to men on earth. Try and clear them out the stable before the wise men arrive, won’t you Gabriel? Yes, yes, goodwill to all men, we know, we know. That’s not the damn point, not tonight.
Goodwill to all mankind was never going to be an easy message to stomach now was it?
He remembered the shepherds. He always had a good head for the symbolic, that boy. Kingship and priesthood and sacrificial death were all very well, and he knew their place, but he knew too why it was so important for those men of the land to have been there at his birth. Later, much later, He said unto anyone who would shut up and listen, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. Matthew, Mark and Luke all remembered that one.
***
Fandom: the Bible.
Disclaimer: Ummm... the Son of God pretty much belongs to himself, I hope. This version of Gabriel mostly belongs to
opportunemoment though. The bible quotes are all King James. AN: Y'know, sometimes, I think Jesus must've really pissed off his father. No more sacrifices, no more wroth... somehow I don't think the old testament God of Judgement would've given his son an easy ride. :P
No offence is meant by this.