Three Shepherds
Asher stood at the door, hesitating to knock on it. He could hear the celebratory singing and laughter over an evening meal through the door. ‘Perhaps this is not a good time?’ he thought to himself. But he and his fellow shepherds, Chanan and Eldad, could wait no longer. They have been quite hungry for many days, trying their best to ration the little food they had left, and they needed to sell their stockpile of wool if they were to find the means to feed themselves. With Chanan and Eldad looking after his sheep, Asher had traveled household to household since morning with a sack of wool on his back, hoping to sell it for a fair price.
“Go away, sinner!” was the phrase most often spat at him. Other times people offered him a pittance sum for his produce. “Take it or leave it!” they barked, “I’ll bet nobody else will offer you anything more.” And when Asher, holding on to the little dignity he had, tried to ask them for a fairer price, they slammed their doors in his face.
This was the last household in the village, and he did not want to return to his friends, and sheep, empty handed. Taking a deep breath and bracing himself, Asher knocked on the door. When the door finally opened, he was greeted by a scowling housekeeper. “What do you want?” asked the house housekeeper. “I have good wool to sell” answered Asher. Just then, the master of the house walked by the pair, “What does this stinking dog want?” he growled, not bothering to hide his scorn for the shepherd at his door. “I bring you good wool rabbi, please, my brothers and I have little food left. This is good wool, all I ask for it is a fair price” begged Asher. Before he was able to finish, the door slammed shut.
In the cold winter night, Asher returned to the fields, downtrodden. Chanan and Eldad approached him on his return and patted his shoulder to comfort him. No words were necessary to convey their empathy. As Asher put his heavy sack of wool down and prepared himself for night watch over the flock of sheep, the field was suddenly awash with a blinding light. The three shepherds held their hands above their brows and squinted their eyes. Eldad, the meekest of the three, was so frightened that he stooped down at the spot where he was standing, and started to cry and pray.
Then came a jubilant voice that said “Do not be afraid. For behold, to you, I bring good news of great joy which will be for all the people! For today in the city of David, a saviour has been born for you who is the Messiah and Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.” Before they could adjust their eyes to the light, the singular voice was joined by a multitude of other voices “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favour rests.”.
Worried about his flock, Chanan forced himself to open his eyes a little more. But what he saw surprised him. His sheep were uncharacteristically calm and quiet amid the storm of light. When he tried to strain his eyes to take a better look at the divine beings, they suddenly disappeared without a trace. The night was silent once more, the open plains undisturbed, and his sheep were asleep and snoring.
“Bethlehem,” a still-crouching Eldad softly said, “That’s the city of David. It’s not that far from here.”
“Our good God has honoured us, low and humble selves, with an opportunity to set eyes on our Lord and saviour!” added Chanan, “We must go! Now!”
“Born in a lowly manger?” asked Asher sarcastically. “I am tired, and how are we to know exactly which manger it is?”
Eldad, now standing upright, answered back, “C’mon Asher! There won’t be many infants being birthed in a stable. We’ll search all the stables if that’s what it takes!”
Chanan and Eldad moved in haste towards Bethlehem, and with a resigned sigh, Asher followed them.
Walking through the alleys of Bethlehem, the unrelenting winter wind threatened to slice off the shepherds’ ears. Asher handed Chanan and Eldad a handful of wool each. He had brought with him the sack of wool with hopes that he could sell them whilst searching for the newborn infant. Both Chanan and Eldad gratefully covered their ears with the wool and wrapped their faces with their scarves.
After what seemed like an eternity, they spotted a faint glow in a distance. It was the light from a lamp hanging from the roof of an animal stable at an inn. It was there that they found the couple, and their infant child was lying in a manger. The mother looked weary but contented.
“We have found him! The Messiah!” cried Eldad.
Chanan was close to tears when he saw the infant. “An angel of the Lord had told us that we would find the Messiah here, in the form of an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes. Is this he? The one foretold in the prophecies?” he asked.
The newborn’s parents had traveled a long and anxious filled journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Out of love and concern for his pregnant wife, the child’s father, Joseph, had walked the whole way, while he let his wife ride their aging mule. They hadn’t been able to afford younger, stronger beasts. Upon arriving in Bethlehem, the child’s mother, Mary, had felt the the spasms of childbirth begin. She knew her son was ready to born, and sent Joseph frantically searching for a suitable place for her to give birth. Now that his son was finally born, Joseph no longer had the energy to speak. And so with a few weak waves of his hand, Joseph invited the three unexpected guests closer to his son.
Asher was the first to come forward, the awe that came over him was evident in his eyes. Gingerly, he offered his finger to the cooing infant, and the newborn’s fingers tenderly held on to it. Slowly drawing his finger away, he now turned his attention to Mary. “We are poor shepherds. We have nothing of great value to present to our Lord. It is not very much, but we do have a sack of wool. It is good wool, and will help to keep the little one warm.” With a gentle smile, Mary nodded her head. Eldad then laid the wool on top of the infant’s body.
Satisfied with what transpired, the three shepherds returned to the field, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them.
