Bethlehem, the Shepherds' Field

The Shepherds' Field

I must admit that when I first considered going on a trip to Israel I had no idea of what would be involved. It was not so high on my bucket list. What would one really see there? No doubt one would be visiting the various obvious places like Jerusalem, the Sea of Galilee, Bethlehem, Nazareth, perhaps Cana. That's about as far as my thinking went.

Then when the detailed itinerary came to me, and I looked at it seriously, I was somewhat surprised, at the list of sites which would be visited. Such places as the Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes, Mount of the Leap, Shepherds' Field, the House of Simon the Potter were far from my mind. These are biblical references I am aware of, but to give them a specific geographical location, to place these events on a map, this I was not expecting.

Yes, I realised, I would have a lot to see and think about. But let's jump forward a few months and here I am on the outskirts of the Palestinian town of Bethlehem, visiting the Shepherds' Field - well, one of them.

Entrance to the Shepherds' Field of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land (Glory to God in the highest).

The entrance arch to the site certainly has a biblical, Christmassy ring about it : Gloria in excelsis deo. Glory to God in the highest (Luke 2:14). Then the wide path leads up to a small chapel resembling a tent. The interior is decorated with angels, shepherds, sheep and mosaics depicting appropriate nativity scenes. The light that shines through the circular glass panels in the ceiling is a more subtle reminder of the light (the Glory of God, Luke 2:9) that shone about the shepherds on that eventful evening.

The interior of this chapel did create the right atmosphere to hear St Luke's account of the shepherds' experience, and to sing a couple Christmas carols. (The reading had to come from St Luke's gospel, for Mark, which is Pastor Peter's favourite gospel, does not contain any nativity stories; but that's another story.) It may have theoretically been the wrong time to sing carols but in this chapel any time of the year would be the right time.

Oh, and our Italian architect Antonio Barluzzi was responsible for the design of this building as well with its simple but pointed decorations. No doubt we shall meet him again.

The chapel at the Shepherds' Field.

As for the actual shepherds' field which opened out to the side of the chapel, it was dry, barren, stony; certainly not good sheep grazing country, in my mind. The only sheep I saw were marble ones which formed part of the fountain beside the chapel.

Water fountain beside the Shepherds' Field chapel.

Making a bee-line for the "souvenir" shop. Boaz also has laid claim to a nearby field.

Talking about fields. I noticed a few interesting names as we made our way under the Glory to God in the highest arch in leaving this site. Ahead was Bo'az Field Souviner Shop, to which some members of our tour group were hastening. A little further down the road was a sign to Ruth's Field Restaurant. It appears that other people were laying claim to the field, or one nearby, as well as the shepherds.

Boaz and Ruth. Now there are two names that ring a faint bell.

Ruth. That's that short book of the Old Testament squeezed between Judges and Samuel. Can never find it easily when you want it! I usually have to look up the page number at the beginning of the Bible to find its exact location. And yes, we know the story of Ruth and her mother-in-law, Naomi, especially that bit which goes, " Where you go, I will go and where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God" (Ruth 1:16). Ruth was the model daughter-in-law. But how does the story end?

Then Boaz. Some of us may be a little hazy about him. He ended up being Ruth's husband, with a little help from Naomi. When Naomi and Ruth left the land of Moab, they came back to Naomi's hometown of Bethlehem, where Boaz was a land-owner. So it seems that Boaz and his family were grazing their flocks on these fields as well. It's a small world.

Boaz and Ruth had a son, Obed, who was the father of Jesse. Jesse was the father of King David. This means that Ruth was King David's grandmother. When you think about it, this makes the great King David, the hero of all the Jews, part Moabite. But that's another story as well.

Painting inside the Shepherds' Field Chapel. A picture can represent many words, but the words which the artist had read and interpreted. The viewer does an individual reading.