Sheep Steals Baby Jesus–and the Scene—at Church Christmas Pageant

When we tell the story of Jesus’s birth, it usually involves Mary, Joseph, a few Wise Men, a manger, and some animals. But we hardly ever hear about a little sheep stealing the baby Jesus, only to be nearly tackled by Mary, who’s trying to put her baby back. But that’s how it went down at the First Baptist Church of White Pine in Tennessee this year.

During the annual Christmas pageant, toddlers filled the roles of the holy family as a chorus sang “Away in a Manger.” That was when 2-year-old Teegan Benson, who played a sheep in the show, decided that the baby doll in the manger was just too cute to leave alone. She grabbed it and started rocking him back and forth. Unsurprisingly, the 3-year-old who played Mary wasn’t having it. Protective of her newborn, Collia Weems snatched Jesus back and attempted to put him back where he belonged. The two little girls tussled for a bit until a teacher intervened and prevented a violent turn to the Christmas story.

According to the Huffington Post, the mothers of both the sheep and Mary were seated next to each other and laughed so hard at the incident that they cried. Fortunately mom Tana Benson captured the whole thing on camera and posted it to Facebook, where it went viral.

Watch the adorable scene in the video below. It probably isn’t how the real birth of Jesus played out, but it’s pretty hilarious.