Quote of the Day

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What would constitute “good tidings of great joy” (Luke 2:10) for the shepherds of Judea, circa 4 BCE? Maybe the announcement of a particular birth: the birth of a man who would, as an adult, go into the synagogue and say that God had anointed him to bring good news to the poor. And especially in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus had a lot of good news for the poor. He said they were blessed. He said the Kingdom of God was theirs. He ate with them and healed them and invited them to walk with him along the way. What an incredible experience that would have been, to be a marginal figure in society and suddenly to find oneself in relationship with a God-intoxicated prophet and teacher.

Why did Jesus do these things? Because he encountered God as utterly compassionate, welcoming and loving, and he brought this message of God’s nature to the people in his world, who tended to be, like him, on the lower end of the economic spectrum. In a sense, it doesn’t matter what season Jesus was born in, or whether there were actually shepherds there. The shepherds are part of the truth that transcends fact: If the holy is recklessly and wildly compassionate and inclusive, who better to get the good news first then a bunch of poor people?

– Amanda Udis-Kessler
"About Those Shepherds: A Christmas Mini-Sermon"
Tikkum Daily Blog
December 25, 2010

Recommended Off-Site Link:
A Christmas Story – Aun Lal (Side Walk, December 24, 2010).

Image: Artist unknown.