i was giving a lesson on the Birth of our Savour, Jesus Christ, yesterday, and one of the things i needed for my lesson was a nativity, so the kids could put it up while learning about all the people in it. well that shouldnt be a problem, we have only about a million nativites around our house. i should be able to find one that will work well. or so i thought. one thing about all the nativites that we had in our house is that none of them have more than one shepheard to them. but, isnt it supposed to be "shepheardS abiding in the fields, watching THEIR flocks by night."? not just one shepheard, watching HIS flock? so i thought, maybe its just the nativites that we have in our house. maybe there is one in the deseret book add that has more than one. sure enough, there was, but the vast majority of the nativites have just one shepheard. something is wrong with that. why are there always three wise men, when they didnt even show up till 13 days after the birth, and only one shepheard, when there were many of them in the fields that night? the poor shepheards! they are misrepresented in the nativites! the kids are all going to think there was only one shepheard, and that the wisemen came that night! what injustice! i think i'll rebel, and support the cause of the shepheards. if'n i ever get/make a nativty of my own, i'm going to have lots of shepheards (and sheep too, i guess) and no wisemen (they dont belong in the story). even if it isnt much, the shepheards should appreciate it.
1 comment:
I'm sorry for your problem, but I'd just like to point out that you only really need one shepherd. Because at the end of the day (please note the symbolism that the Lord uses here), only one Shepherd is what we respond to. We sheep (see John 21:15-17) only need to be herded by The Shepherd. That's why you only need one shepherd.
Now, as to the wise men, The wise men are a good representation of how the Lord should be welcomed. Even the most genius wise people will know to kneel at the feet of our Savior when she comes again. The people that aren't kneeling aren't very wise, even if they are money wise or earthly wise. When telling the story - it's important to mention to the children that the wise men fell down and worshiped Him.
And don't forget the parts of the stories we don't tell. The gold, franchensinse, and moor were important to the survival of Christ. When the king ordered the deaths of every child under two, Joseph and Mary used those resources to get out of harms way. I know we don't tell this part of the story, but the wisemen are important to the infancy of our beloved Lord.
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