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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.
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Date: 2005-12-06 10:03 am (UTC)I like muchly :)
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Date: 2005-12-06 10:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-12-06 11:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-12-06 02:47 pm (UTC)Should say first off that I'm not offended or anything - I'm just theologizing, because... well, that's sort of what I do...
I'm a tiny bit perplexed as to why you see the shepherds as the odd-item-out in the nativity scene. I would have thought they would be right at home there - with the young woman who'd just given birth to a baby suspected to be illegitimate in accommodation meant for animals rather than humans, and her husband who was an ordinary working man. If anything, to my mind it's the Magi who feel as though they've been dragged in from another story. (Although, being gentiles, there's a sense in which they're outsiders too... but that's a whole other theological essay!) Would be interested to hear why you see it the other way round.
On another note, I'd somehow never put the Jesus-visited-by-shepherds and Jesus-as-the-Good-Shepherd together in my head before. I've had it hammered home to me in numerous New Testament lectures/tutorials and sermons that the shepherds were especially significant as they were regarded as a bit disreputable ('the used car salesmen of their day' is a phrase I've heard bandied about quite a lot), but it had never occurred to me that that added whole new shades of meaning to Jesus describing himself as the Good Shepherd. (I know there's an age old tradition of God being described as the Shepherd of Israel, but still...) So thanks for that. :-)
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Date: 2005-12-06 04:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-12-06 04:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-12-06 04:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-12-06 04:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-12-06 04:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-12-06 04:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-12-06 04:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-12-06 05:10 pm (UTC)This way round just fitted with a version of events that happened in a universe that
The other thing is there's a difference between the symbols of poverty, the manger and the stable and no room at the inn, and actually letting the poor in, making the miraculous birth available to the people.
I'd always put Jesus as Good Shepherd together with the Shepherds at the nativity - partly because it strikes me so odd that they can abandon their flocks as they do and go and see the saviour born with no consequences... imagine if the Shepherd of the people did that, just stopped watching the flocks.
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Date: 2005-12-08 03:43 am (UTC)imagine if the Shepherd of the people did that, just stopped watching the flocks.
Funny you should say that... this is from Luke chapter 15, vv. 3-7, New International Version, my emphasis.
"Then Jesus told them this parable: "Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent."
I heard a talk once arguing that the extravagance of the shepherd's care for the one missing sheep, even to the extent of leaving the ninety-nine unattended, is the point of the parable - it's about God's extravagant love for fallen humanity. Of course, being God, he doesn't have to leave the ninety-nine unattended at all, as he can do the whole being everywhere thing. But it's still an interesting parallel with the shepherds in the nativity story.
no subject
Date: 2005-12-08 03:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-12-08 06:26 pm (UTC)Well, and why only three shepherds? To balance the three kings, who appear in a totally different book...
Thanks for the Luke reference, it's interesting. (Although that kind of new testament story has always irritated me. Like the Prodigal Son. I always feel sorry for the people who were in the right all along...)
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Date: 2005-12-08 09:53 pm (UTC)Well, we don't even know there were three kings... The number is unspecified, though they did bring three gifts. And of course, they aren't stated to be kings in Matthew... (I remember reading somewhere that the tradition of calling them kings comes from interpreting an Old Testament verse about kings as referring to this event, but I have no idea which verse - if anyone else has a clue what I'm talking about, I would much appreciate being pointed in the right direction!) A site I've just found while vaguely googling this subject pointed out that the term 'Magi' doesn't even necessarily imply they were all male...
(Although that kind of new testament story has always irritated me. Like the Prodigal Son. I always feel sorry for the people who were in the right all along...)
A talk I heard recently on the parable of the prodigal son plus a lecture I heard years ago suggested that the parable is just as much (if not more) about the older brother as it is about the prodigal. When the brother complains about the treatment the prodigal is getting, the father's response is 'You are always with me, and everything I have is yours.' The older son feels he's being passed over, but in fact the only reason he doesn't have is because he's never asked for it: the father is ready to shower him with as much affection as the prodigal if he'll only indicate that he wants it.
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Date: 2005-12-10 03:10 am (UTC)I like that take on the Prodigal Son.