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 they were sore afraid.
And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy. . . For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2: 8-11)
I once heard an LDS scholar present an interesting hypothesis: What, he asked, if the sheep being watched were, in fact, the temple sheep who would be sacrificed at Passover?
Modern-day revelation has taught us that Jesus was not born in the winter, but in the spring - April, to be precise. The sheep and the shepherds would have been in the fields at night only during the lambing season in the spring. Luke's story would have made sense in that context.
If that is so, then Jesus was born around Passover, the same time lambs for the temple would have been being born: the Lamb of God.
As a young person, I wondered why Christians would call this day of such horrendous suffering, "Good" Friday. What, I reasoned, was good about it? As I matured, I recognized that Jesus' ultimate sacrifice that day had been a part of God's plan for His children since before the beginning: the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. (Revelation 13:8) It was the key to God's entire plan; the only way we could be tried and tested was if we were free to choose for ourselves; inevitably, we would sometimes choose wrong things (for all have sinned - Romans 5:12). Since no unclean thing can enter into the presence of God (1 Nephi 10:21), the demands of justice require that propitiation must be made so that the slate could be wiped clean and mercy be applied.
Jesus voluntarily gave His life. No man took it from Him. He alone held the priesthood keys of hell and the gift of repentance. His infinite atonement makes it possible for all mankind to be saved by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel. (Articles of Faith 3) This link will take you to a wonderful article about the Savior and His ultimate and infinite atonement.
The atonement began in the Garden of Gethsemane Thursday night, when He said he felt heavy unto death and sore amazed (Matthew 26:37) - just as the shepherds were sore amazed 33 years before. It continued through his arrest, trials, beatings, and crown of thorns, until it was finished on the cross. (John 19:30) In so doing, He rescued us all from spiritual death and hell.
Isaiah had prophesied: But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all . . . For the transgressions of my people was he stricken. (Isaiah 53:5, 6, 8)
That is why today is a Good Friday. I cannot even imagine the great suffering that He underwent for me. But I am more than grateful that He did, for I, like a sheep, have blindly followed my own way. When I think this day of all that He suffered and died for me, I want nothing more than to follow His way.
© Dr. Kathleen Rawlings Buntin Danielson April 2022
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