The Shepherds
Also known as: Shepherds of Bethlehem, The Shepherds in the Fields
Humble shepherds keeping watch over their flocks near Bethlehem on the night of Jesus’s birth. An angel appeared surrounded by God’s glory, proclaiming “good news of great joy”—the birth of a Savior in Bethlehem, with a sign: a baby wrapped in cloths lying in a manger. A multitude of heavenly host then appeared, singing “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace” (Luke 2:14).
The shepherds went with haste to Bethlehem, found Mary, Joseph, and the infant exactly as described, then “made known” what they had been told—becoming the first evangelists. Though shepherds occupied a low social position in first-century Jewish society, they received heaven’s first announcement of the Messiah’s birth, embodying the Gospel’s great reversal: the lowly exalted, the marginalized receiving God’s revelation.