Elisha was trembling in the cold icy rain falling on the temple flocks. He had been out here fourteen days now, earning a meager wage to help support his mom and little brothers and sisters. His uncle had explained the importance of the job, and how rare it was for someone only fourteen years old to have. But it was a bitterly cold winter and some of the older shepherds were staying close to their family fires.
Sometimes he wished he were back home with his family, celebrating the Festival of Lights. The warm home, a special meal and the remembrance of God’s great provision for his people warmed him, but only in his imagination.
The flock was special. All of the lambs were to be perfect sacrifices for the temple services in Jerusalem. He looked forward to the spring days when they would drive the flock to the temple holding pens. Beautiful women, singing children, singing crowds of people marching to Jerusalem to sacrifice the Passover lamb. People from all over the world. But he felt sad too. The lambs would all be slaughtered.
“Why do we still bother with sacrifices?” he asked Samuel. “What good do they do? We still die and become worm food. Seems like the money spent on these flocks could be put to better use.”
“Come sit by the fire.” wise old Samuel said. “We sin. The Law points that out, and mentions that someday the Messiah, the anointed one, will come. Like a lamb led to slaughter, his blood will be shed and our sins washed away. Like the cold rain washes away the dirty snow on these hills.”
Elisha thought about Samuel’s words, and Samuel. Samuel had been a guest in his uncle’s home for as long as he and his mom had lived there. He dimly remembered the sad times and the tears of his mother as she mourned the loss of her husband, her lover, his father. They had moved into his uncle’s place and he could no longer remember a year when he had not seen Samuel.
He wasn’t there all the time, just for feast days or special family days. Samuel brought rare treats from the hills and pastures where he watched sheep. At one time, it was his family flocks he shepherded, but then his father and brothers lost the flocks. Samuel went to work herding the temple flocks. He often joked about the low, but reliable pay. Elisha had a small collection of animals carved from various sticks and stumps that Samuel had carved over the years.
Warmed by the small crackling fire, Elisha asked, “Isn’t the messiah going to free us from Rome? Can you imagine the new kingdom! We will grow, make treaties with Greece and Rome and whatever other governments come along. Won’t it be grand?”
“Son, I don’t know many things, but I do know the messiah will die. If he is like David and a great king, I guess that is okay, but taking away the cause of death is what I hope for.”
The fire burnt on, popping and cracking. Smoke and sparks spiraling up into the air. The sheep were finally calm. The rain kept most of the predators quiet and the old man spoke once more. Slowly, quietly.
“With death, there is little hope. These lambs have no hope. Do you want to be like them? They live protected, fed, and sheltered. Even rescued. But they have no reason to live. They all will die. If we share their end, we will all die, hopeless and lifeless.”
Quietly, Samuel continued. “No, we are not like the sheep. Death will be conquered. To overcome death, we need something that will bring life. The messiah will bring that life so that we may have life.”
The night became still. No sound could be heard from the flock. The rain stopped.
Suddenly, light brighter than lightning cracked across the sky! An angel with brilliant white wings stood above the flock.
Elisha grabbed Samuel’s withered hand and looked away from the brilliant sight. Everywhere he turned shepherds were running, falling, trying to escape the brilliance. His eyes burned from the brightness. Covering them with his free hand, he looked up at Samuel.
Samuel stood smiling, eyes open with wonder and joy. The ground rumbled and men cried in terror.
“What is it Samuel? What is it?”
Before Samuel could answer, Elisha heard a firm, warm voice.
“Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David, a savior has been born to you. He is Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you. You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
Elisha, struck with wonder, fell to his knees, his eyes never leaving the angel. He felt a warmth spread from his heart throughout his body. Then suddenly, before his eyes hundreds of angels appeared with the announcing angel, praising God, saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”
The singing and resounding declarations echoed throughout the low hills. It seemed as if the hills were joining the magnificent chorus. The night was as day, yet more vivid, more alive. Elisha saw Samuel, looking decades younger. The trees and grass looked fresh and new, like they did after spring rains. Amazed, Elisha stood, and looked back at the beautiful angels.
As quickly as they came, the angels left! Darkness descended like a black curtain over the shepherds and their flock. The lambs cried out urgently, like baby lambs wanting to play in spring time. The shepherds looked at each other.
“What is this?”
“Let’s go!”
As shepherds scattered to gather their belongings, the lambs gathered close, surrounding the shepherds. Seeking their masters out on their own.
Dispersed among the flock, the shepherds headed for Bethlehem, the City of David. Samuel was in the lead, the old shepherd walking with determined purpose. He was off to see the messiah. Elisha clung to his hand, thoughts racing through his head. The lambs came on their own, not needing anyone to herd them, almost like this child was their savior too.
Elisha wondered, “If Samuel’s right, there won’t be a need to sacrifice lambs anymore. Do you think the lambs know?”
“Samuel, why is our messiah laying in a manger? If he is to be our king, why not a palace? What did the angel mean, ‘good news that will be for all people?’ What other people? I thought he was our messiah.”
Samuel smiled, “Elisha my boy. I feel alive. I don’t remember feeling this alive, ever. It’s me, the same beat up old body, but new.
Yes, that’s it. I feel hope! The messiah, our savior, will end the suffering and death brought by our sin. Death is no longer the end! There is reason to live and to live well.”
“Elisha, I don’t know why we will find him in a manger, but we are more than dust. We can live forever like Moses and Abraham. And, such a gift as this cannot be kept for just our people. All suffer death, and if there is reason for hope of life after death, this gift is for everyone. Everyone, young Elisha!”
At the hilly outskirts of Bethlehem, the flock and its shepherds headed for the caves where the stables were located. Elisha noticed several people standing at the entrance to one of the caves. Leaving the flock, Samuel and Elisha walked to the entrance of the stable.
Bending low, they entered the dimly lit cavern. Straw rustled beneath their feet as they walked to the back of the cave. People moved aside as Elisha, carrying a tiny lamb too small to keep up, and Samuel passed by. The lamplight grew brighter as they reached the stable. They saw a tired donkey resting near the manger and a tall, rough man with strong hands hovering over a delicate, pale woman. Not much older than Elisha. She was beautiful, even though lines of fatigue creased her face.
She reached into the manger, straightening the blankets that served as the resting place for the tiny baby. The baby, all wrapped in cloths, lying in a manger.
“This is it! This is the messiah!” Elisha looked up at the old man with wonder on his face.
Elisha set the tiny lamb down. It walked to the manger and nuzzled the blankets. Elisha stepped forward and fell to his knees, gently reaching out to shoo the lamb away. The lamb behind him, he looked up and saw the baby’s tiny face in the straw.
The young mother and father gently walked over and picked up the baby, looking at Elisha.
“Would you like to hold him?”
Elisha nodded silently, stretching out his lean shepherd’s arms.
“So soft. So tiny. Asleep. Gentle breathing. Rosy cheeks. This is the Messiah?”
He raised the baby up towards the young mother. She cradled him in her arms. Elisha looked back to the empty manger.
“How could that be the messiah? Yet, so many people. A well behaved flock. Samuel’s words. The angels, I’ve never seen anything like that before. Those angels so beautiful and telling us where and how they would find the messiah.”
Looking up, Elisha saw the young man and woman watching him. He felt tears of joy running down his cheeks. He picked up the lamb, stood up, and carried it over to them and set it at the young woman’s feet. The man reached out and touched his shoulder.
Elisha and Samuel had found the messiah, and deep in his heart, Elisha felt the wonderful knowledge that change had arrived. But more than change, life. That’s what it was. Life had come to earth. No need to fear death. Life was here.
“Thank you. Thank you very much.”
Elisha turned and returned to his flock, Samuel by his side.