This past fall Billie and I checked off one of the things on our bucket list, we visited Rome. We spent a week seeing ancient sites such as the Colosseum, Roman Forum and Pantheon. We spent a day touring Vatican City and the Sistine Chapel, one of Michelangelo’s most famous works of art. Near the end of the week we took a bus ride along the Via Appia Antica, the ancient Appian Way, one of the earliest and strategically most important roads of the ancient Roman republic, and visited the Catacombs of San Callisto.
Of all the catacombs in and around Rome, those of San Callisto are the largest with nearly twelve miles of tunnels forming an interlacing grid on four levels covering more than 90 acres. Starting in the second century these catacombs were hewn into the soft volcanic rock (tufo) to create a vast network of rooms and passageways. It is estimated that over 500 thousand Christians, and 16 early popes were buried there.
This impressive archaeological and religiously significant site is owned and curated by the Catholic Church. Our tour guide that afternoon was a very kind and well-educated, middle aged priest from the Philippines. As we stood in the large antechamber on the first level, nearly twenty feet below the surface, he asked, “What’s missing?” Never having been in a catacomb before I had no idea what to expect. I glanced around at the altar, several burial niches and a sealed tomb. There were also several badly deteriorated frescos on the walls and that was pretty much it, I shrugged my shoulders.
His answer was another question, “why do you think there aren’t any crosses marking the tombs or depicted in the art on the walls?”
He then proceeded to explain, “these Christians were buried during the first three centuries following the death of Christ. And during that time, before Christian imagery could be made public, the image of the Good Shepherd was the most common symbolic representation of Christ. It wasn’t until the 4th century AD that the cross gained wide acceptance and use in Christian art.
Fresco from the catacombs of San Callisto
In this fresco the Good Shepherd with a lamb around his shoulders represents Christ and the soul which He has saved.
Perhaps a brief review of several scriptural accounts will help shed light on why these early Christians chose the image of a humble shepherd carrying a lamb as the best way to symbolize their adoration for Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
In the Old Testament David, the son of Jesse, was tending his father’s flocks when he was summoned by the prophet Samuel. He arrived with his shepherd’s crook (staff) in hand as was anointed by the prophet to be the king in Israel. In the book of Psalms, David affirmed, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” (Psalms 23:1)
The imagery of the LORD as the Good Shepherd is continued in New Testament. In the book of John, chapter 10, Jesus taught using an allegory which included sheep, a sheepfold, and a shepherd.
“To understand the imagery, it must be remembered that Eastern folds are large open enclosures into which several flocks are driven at the approach of night. There is only one door, which a single shepherd guards, while the others go home to rest. In the morning the shepherds return, are recognized by the doorkeeper, call their flocks round them, and lead them forth to pasture.” (Dummelow, p. 791)
Continuing in John 10:7 Jesus explained, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.”
The Book of Mormon prophet Nephi taught, “the keeper of the gate is the Holy One of Israel; and he employeth no servant there; and there is none other way save it be by the gate; for he cannot be deceived, for the Lord God is his name.” (2 Nephi 9:41, compare John 10:1)
David had declared, and all Israel knew, that their promised Messiah would be a great Shepherd who would provide for them both temporally and spiritually. That He would make them lie down in green pastures, lead them beside the still waters, restore their souls and lead them in paths of righteousness all the days of their lives and in the end they would dwell in His house forever. (see Psalms 23)
All of which makes Christ’s affirmation even more powerful when he declared, “I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.
As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.” (St. John 10:14-15)
At the end of His mortal life the Good Shepherd willingly offered Himself a sacrifice for all sin and in so doing became the Lamb of God. His typification as the Lamb of God was first taught to Adam and Eve after they were driven from the Garden of Eden. Adam was commanded to build an altar and upon that altar to offer sacrifices. He was instructed by an angel that these animal sacrifices were to be a type, a shadow, a similitude guiding them and their posterity to look forward to a future time when another Lamb, a most precious and pure Lamb, the Lamb of God, the Only Begotten of the Father, would offer Himself as a sacrifice for all mankind. (see Moses 5)
Adam was further instructed by the angel that the sacrificial lamb was to be a firstborn without blemish. These prescribed conditions for the sacrificial lamb, later detailed in the Law of Moses, were in accordance with the covenant and promise that God made with Adam to send a Savior to redeem mankind from their fallen state.
Adam’s posterity remained under covenant to offer these sacrifices until Jesus Christ, the Son of God would come and offer Himself as the consummate and final sacrifice for all mankind, and in so doing fulfill the law of Moses. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus taught that He came to not to destroy the law, but to fulfill it. (Matt 5:17-18)
Jesus was born during a time and in a place where types, shadows, signs and symbols were in abundance. The circumstances surrounding His birth, if we ponder deeply their meaning, are intended to draw us unto Him.
He was born in the region of Israel were golden stalks of wheat grew in abundance. In a little town, Bethlehem which is Hebrew meaning the house of bread. The Israelites were fed with manna, bread from heaven which sustained them as they journeyed in the desert toward the promised land. Jesus called himself the bread of life, come down from Heaven.
He promised that if we would willingly partake of His bread we would never hunger, that He would nourish and sustain us as we travel through our own personal wilderness, mortality with all of its requisite trials and tribulations, on the journey toward our promised land, to return and live in His and Heavenly Father’s presence.
He was born under the light of a new star that shone brightly in the heavens. He would be called the light of the world. A light so bright that it could guide even the weariest of travelers through the darkest of nights on a safe course back to Him.
Jesus Christ was born during the meridian of time, a time when the offering of sacrificial lambs continued to be dutifully observed by all of the House of Israel.
He was born in a region of rolling hills and pastures, where shepherds tended their flocks. He would be called the Good Shepherd, the One who would never recoil or flee from the duties of caring for His sheep. He taught that if we would humble ourselves and listen we would hear and recognize His voice, the voice of the Good Shepherd. And that if we would choose to follow Him, being full of faith and through obedience to his commandments, we would be His sheep, in His fold and under His watchful care.
On the eve of Christmas our family gathers to read the account of Luke concerning the Savior’s birth.
“And she (Mary) brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men.” (Luke 2:8-14)
Jesus was born in the spring when the shepherds in the fields would be up all night dutifully assisting their sheep in the birthing process. So the symbolism is perfect, it was these same shepherds, summoned by an angelic host, who arrived first on the scene. You might wonder, why shepherds? And why not a priest from the tribe of Levi or a leader of one of the prevailing religious sects?
I believe this angelic visit to the shepherds was more than just a fanciful embellishment of a story told over time or merely an incidental detail. There is great symbolic significance in their visit and subsequent witness to others of what they had seen and heard.
Remember the stipulation that the lamb be without blemish? Well this was something the priests themselves, or anyone else for that matter, could verify by simple inspection. However the requirement that the lamb be a firstborn required the intimate knowledge of the shepherd. The shepherd knew which of his sheep were yearlings, and therefore having their first offspring. Only the shepherds were present to witness the actual birth of the lambs.
The priests responsible for offering the sacrificial lamb had no way of differentiating between a firstborn lamb and any other lamb. As a matter of practicality they would have relied on the testimony, or witness of the shepherds.
“And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.
And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.” (Luke 2:15-16)
Shepherds in Israel were among the first to visit the Christ child and His parents in the manger on the evening of His birth. With the testimony given them by angels, they witnessed that Jesus Christ was the Only Begotten Son of God the Father, the firstborn of Mary and that He was without blemish—He was perfect and therefore suitable to be offered up as a sacrifice for all mankind, even to be the Lamb of God. (See Luke 2:16-17; John 1:29.)
At this special time of year, when the world remembers the birth of our Savior, we are all, each of us, summoned to come and see. That invitation may not come by way of an angelic host or some great light in the heavens, but nonetheless it comes. It comes to all who in sincerity of heart seek The Good Shepherd, the Lord of Lords and King of Kings.
In the midst of the hustle and bustle, the circumstances of our time and the modern-day materialism of traditional celebrations, it is important to pause often and remember the babe born in Bethlehem. He is the Good Shepherd anticipated by Israel for thousands of years. He lived a perfect life and was without blemish (both physically and spiritually), He willingly offered up Himself to become the Lamb of God. And like the Good Shepherd prophesied of old, He continues to lead and to shelter all those who will believe in His name.
During this season of giving, as well as all year round let us join our voices with the heavenly hosts who praised God saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” Let us then take action, as did those humble shepherds of old, and come unto the Savior in haste and like the Apostle Paul give thanks unto God for His unspeakable gift, the gift of love, the gift of His only begotten Son, even Jesus Christ. (see 2 Cor 9:15)
Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd, our Exemplar, our Redeemer and our Savior. That we may all follow His example to be good shepherds, to show our love for God and our good will toward all by speaking kind words and in doing kind deeds for one another all the year round is my hope and prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Merry Christmas!