Shepherds were on the lowest rung of society, they were ceremonially unclean, and theirs was even known as the illegitimate profession.

So, why did God select these individuals to be the first to learn of the birth of Jesus?

I think it is because these shepherds, tending sheep near Bethlehem, were responsible for the breeding, birth, and care of the lambs that would be sacrificed on Passover for the sins of the people.

To announce the birth of His Son, God sent angels to these shepherds to say, ‘I’m sending My Son, who will be the Passover Lamb who will die for the sins of the world.’

After visiting the manger, the shepherds praised God for what they had seen and heard. The Messiah had been born. God’s Passover Lamb had come into history in time and in space.

And the world would never be the same.

–by Dr. Ed Young of WinningWalk.org