Forgotten Women and Girls in the Christmas Story
- Elaine R Kelly
- Nov 27, 2022
- 6 min read
Updated: Apr 12
As I watched the children's pageant on the first Sunday of Advent, I thought back on past Christmas pageants, it was usually boys who played the roles of the shepherds and wise men; girls were given the roles of angels. When I was looking for women in the gospels in writing my biblical fiction, it never occurred to me that the shepherds may have been women and girls.
The word "shepherd" in English is the same as the word "pastor" in Latin. It means to lead the flocks to pasture and give them food and water. Up to now, I thought of both shepherds and pastors as men. Women and girls are forgotten shepherds as shepherds in the Christmas story, and it may have meant women and girls are forgotten as shepherds and pastors.
But what if the Bible uses the image of a shepherd to indicate that God breaks the barriers of gender and class? What if the image of a shepherd shows that Jesus represents both male and female?
It can be empowering to see:
women and girls as shepherds in historic Bible stories,
women as pastors who shepherd Christian flocks,
Jesus as representing male and female shepherds
women and girls in the Christmas story
Women and Girls as Shepherds in Historic Bible Stories
Today, Pastor Erick Schuringa pointed out that being a shepherd was an ordinary, lowly job often done by young women and girls. What is extraordinary is that the first people to whom God announces the good news of the Messiah's birth are little girls.
Laban's daughter, Rachel, was a shepherd (Genesis 29:9) and all shepherds were detestable to Egyptians (Genesis 46:33-34). God reaches out to the people we least expect, in the places we least expect. God uses the most humble, lowly people to bring the way of peace to powerful empires.
In many places, women, girls, and young boys were shepherds. Traditionally, the oldest sons did the more skilled work, such as sowing and harvesting crops. The job of shepherding was relatively easy, though it was dirty and lonely, and it was shifted to the youngest in the family. The job of sheep herding was often done by the youngest son, the one with the smallest claim to any inheritance. When God sends Samuel to anoint one of Jesse's sons to be the next king, Jesse proudly introduces him to seven sons. He would not have thought of introducing his youngest son, David, and had to have him fetched from the sheep field at Samuel's request.
What if being a shepherd was the most detestable, despised and dishonourable job? It didn't pay well, and made you smelly, dirty, and isolated. It was a job for a person not good enough for anything else. Historians have raised the idea that shepherds were religious outcasts and ritually impure. They were considered unreliable and their testimony was not admissible in court. Educated urbanites may have scoffed at shepherds as dirty, rural, uneducated farm folk. Randy Alcorn was quoted as saying that shepherds were at "the bottom rung of the social ladder", comparable to tax collectors.
Women as Pastors who Shepherd Christian flocks
Historically, women in ministry were sometimes portrayed in images and statues, holding a shepherd's crook to indicate they were shepherds or pastors. Men and women saw these women as shepherds leading people to follow Jesus.
Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) founded and led an abbey of the Benedictine community. She wrote Christian doctrine and morality plays and composed liturgical songs. She corresponded with kings and did a preaching tour calling for reform of the church. She is remembered in paintings with a shepherd's crook to indicate that she was a pastor/shepherd.
Hilda, the Abbess of Whitby was a 7th-century female pastor, leader, and teacher. Since her abbey was home to both monks and nuns, she was an overseer of both men and women.
"Keep the peace of the gospel with one another and indeed with the entire world." - St Hilda
Leoba was an 8th-century pastor and shepherd. Bonifice approved Leoba as his co-worker. This man and woman worked together together as equal partners in ministry, evangelism, and pastoring.
Jesus representing male and female shepherds
Jesus was a man and he said he was the Good Shepherd. Peter was a man and Jesus told him to "Feed my sheep". David was a man, and he wrote about God being his shepherd, taking him to good pastures (Psalm 23). The patriarchs Abraham, Jacob, and Moses were shepherds.
Pastor is the word often used by Protestants for the leader, teacher, and preacher of a church. Most Evangelicals say a pastor must be a male, while Mainline Protestants often ordain either men or women as pastors, ministers, or clergy. Priest is the word often used by Anglicans, Catholics, and Orthodox churches to indicate their leader, preacher, and officiant. The word priest comes from the Latin word for overseer, elder, or father, and historically these were seen as male roles based on an understanding of 1 Timothy. The tradition of pastors and priests being male is based on the idea that they represent Jesus, a male.
But what if Jesus chose to call himself a shepherd, a role filled by either men or women, to indicate that men or women might be pastors? What if Jesus called himself the Good Shepherd to compare himself to a female caregiver who nurtured and protected her flock? If the job of being a shepherd was typically done by women and girls, what does that say about who may do the job of being a pastor? Is it possible he wanted to indicate that the shepherd/pastor of Christians is a role that could be filled by either men or women?
Christians today do not think of a shepherd as a lowly, dirty, discredited job. Christians revere shepherds as pastors, leaders, protectors, and caregivers who lead their flocks of believers. Christians honour and lift up the role of shepherd.
But what if the Bible uses shepherds to demonstrate how God uses people of the lowest class and lifts up the lowly?
"He has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly" Luke 1:52 NRSVUE (Mary's prophesy)
Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low" Isaiah 40:4 NRSVUE (Isaiah's prophesy)
Is the raising of lower-class people and lowly women to be pastors the reason why so many Christian theologians are quick to forget that shepherd is an image of men and women? Christians discredit the idea that shepherds were considered lowly, immoral or unreliable.
Women and Girls as First Witnesses at Christmas and Easter
What if the shepherds in Luke 2:8-20 were girls and young women? What if God chose women as the first ones to receive and share the message of the Messiah's birth? Angels appeared and commissioned the women and girl shepherds, and these females proclaimed the birth of God's Messiah.
What if that bookends how God chose women as the first ones to hear and share the message of the Messiah's resurrection? God chose women as the first ones to receive and share the message of the Messiah's resurrection. The risen Jesus appeared and commissioned Mary Magdalene and the other women to proclaim the resurrection of God's Messiah to the male disciples and others (Matthew 28:8-10, John 20:17-18).
What if God showed us from the very birth of Jesus that women were called to be shepherds, leading and protecting flocks of believers? What if God preordained that women and men share the roles of receiving God's news and sharing it?
May you ponder all these things in your hearts during advent, as you wait for the coming of the one who lifts up the lowly.
Elaine Ricker Kelly Author is empowering women with historical fiction about women in the Bible and early church and Christian blogs about women in leadership, church history and doctrine. Her books include:
Forgotten Followers from Broken to Bold, Book 1 (2022)
The Sword A Fun Way to Engage in Healthy Debate on What the Bible Says About a Woman's Role (2023)
Because She Was Called: from Broken to Bold, Book 2, A Novel of the Early Church, imagines Mary Magdalene's trip to testify before the emperor (2024)
Walk with Mara on Her Healing Journey: 21 Steps to Emotional Resilience (2024)
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