I've been looking for the source of a tale. It may possibly be an old Holy Land urban legend. Story is about the shepherds on the first Christmas. Their "specialty" was in the flock they were keeping watch over, "unblemished" or something like that for Temple sacrifice. I remember something about why the Angels made the first announcement to shepherds was to tell them their jobs were going to end. {They now had The Lamb of God}
Anyone ever heard this story?
I have heard that before.... somewhere.
Lemme do some hunting for it.
The Shepherds of Bethlehem and Jewish Tradition
When angels appeared to shepherds near Bethlehem by night, a popular expectation was fulfilled. An early Jewish paraphrase of the books of Moses reflects a popular belief in Bethlehem as Messiah’s birthplace and shepherds as the witnesses. This popular belief, no doubt, sprang from the ancient prophecy in Micah of a ruler “from ancient days” being born in Bethlehem14.
The Jewish paraphrase in question is Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, which translated the Hebrew text of the books of Moses into the language most Jewish people spoke at the time, Aramaic. While translating these books of the Bible, the Targum often added some commentary to the text (the first study Bible?).
In one such comment from Genesis 35:21, the Targum includes a historical note about the place called Migdal Eder (the Tower of the Flock): “The tower of the flock, the place from which it will happen that King Messiah will be revealed at the end of days.”15
What possible significance could this little reference have? The Tower of the Flock is significant for two reasons. First of all, it shows up in the very prophecy of the Messiah that led the Jewish people to expect Messiah to be born in Bethlehem, Micah 4:6 – 5:5. Second of all, the Tower of the Flock is just outside of Bethlehem, on the road to Jerusalem. The tower was used as a watchtower for the area to look for predators that might harm the flocks16. Therefore, there is a tradition from the Targum Pseudo-Jonathan that the Messiah would first be revealed to shepherds near the watchtower of the flock outside of Bethlehem—just as it actually happened!
Not only do we learn from Jewish sources that the Messiah should be first revealed to shepherds, but we also learn that these were no ordinary sheep-herders. A Jewish book called the Mishnah tells us that all sheep raised between Jerusalem and the Tower of Eder were for use in the Temple sacrifices, especially the Passover lambs17. These shepherds were involved in a sacred duty, raising sheep destined for use in the Temple.
While it is true that Jesus was first revealed as Messiah to a lowly bunch of shepherds, these were shepherds with a special significance. They were raising lambs for the slaughter. And to them was given the first glimpse of the lamb of God, who would be slain for the sins of Israel and the world!
Jesus’ whole life placed him prophetically in the role of a sacrificial lamb. More than seven hundred years before he was born, Isaiah said about the Messiah, “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.”18 At the very beginning of his ministry, before he ever said a word to anyone about his upcoming death on a Roman cross, John the Baptist said of him, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”19 And at his birth, he was first shown to those who raised lambs for the slaughter.