I Peter 5:1-4
(A Bible Study
Led by Dr. Larry Reynolds)
January 9, 2013
1.
About this time
each year one of my favorite stories always comes to my mind...about an
important college football game...a couple of minutes were left in 1st
half and the score was tied...the quarterback for one of the teams was injured
and the coach was forced to put in a freshman who was the team’s punter and
also the back-up quarterback...this freshman had never played quarterback in a
big time college game...the young man had good athletic ability but he wasn’t
the sharpest knife in the drawer when it came to intellect...coach told him, “We’re
just going to run out the clock, go into the halftime break tied. So here’s what want you to do...on first play
run quarterback sneak... your job is just to hang onto the ball...on second
play do same thing...and third play do same thing...on fourth play want you to
punt the ball to the other team...” ...first play 20 yards/second play
20 yards/third play 20 yards/fourth play, to the shock of everyone in the
stadium, punted ball through end zone into stands...of course, the coach was
livid...grabbed by shoulder pads and screamed, “What in the world were
you thinking?”...and the player looked back at the coach and said, “Well,
if you really want to know, I was thinking what a dumb coach we have!”
2.
Like that little
story because illustrates how difficult it is to give direction to other
people…1 Peter 5:1-4 is directed primarily to those people who had leadership
responsibilities in the churches located in the provinces of Asia Minor to
which the letter of 1 Peter was addressed (see 1 Peter 1:1)…However, this
passage contains principles that are applicable to all Christians of all times.
Verse 1
“…the elders…” - In the New Testament there are three words used to describe the
leader of a church:
--presbuteroi which is the word translated “elders”
in I Peter 5:1...this word does not necessarily refer to a person’s
chronological age...this word refers to the maturity of the church leader...
--episkopoi which is sometimes translated “overseer”
and sometimes translated “bishop”...this word refers to the
responsibility, the task of
the church leader...
--poimen which is translated “pastor”
or “shepherd”...a form of this word is used in verse 2 in the
phrase “shepherd the flock of God among you” and in verse 4 where
Jesus is described as “the Chief Shepherd”...this word refers to the heart, the spirit, the attitude of
the church leader...
In the opinions of many New Testament scholars, and I
concur with them, those three words variously translated “elder,
overseer, bishop, pastor, and shepherd” are used interchangeably in the
NT to refer a single office, the office we refer to as pastor.
“…fellow elder and witness…” – The word translated “witness” is martus
from which our word martyr comes.
We tend to think of a martyr only as a person who lays down his/her life
for another, and the time came when Peter did just that. But a martus or witness is also
someone who tells what he has seen and heard.
Peter certainly did that as well.
It’s interesting to read the first two verses of I Peter 5 in light of
Peter’s personal relationship with Christ. Throughout these verses are
references to what Peter saw in Jesus and heard from Jesus. For example, he tells us that he--
--saw the sufferings of Jesus...the phrase “witness
of the sufferings of Christ” in v.1 points to Peter’s being with Jesus
during his agonizing time in Gethsemane and to Peter witnessing the
crucifixion...
--saw the glory of Jesus...the phrase ”partaker
also of the glory” in v.1 points back to Peter being present, along
with James and John, in Matthew 17 on the Mt. of Transfiguration when the glory
of God was revealed to them in Jesus...may also be a reference to Peter’s
multiple encounters with Jesus after the resurrection…
--heard the teachings of Jesus...the phrase ”shepherd
the flock of God among you” in v.2 is an echo of Jesus’ instructions to
Peter after the resurrection in John 21...there, three times Jesus told Peter
to “Tend or Shepherd My Sheep”...
And one thing we can learn from that is that an
essential characteristic of those who lead in spiritual settings is a living,
dynamic, personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Verses
2-3
““...shepherd the flock of God among you...” – This is the key command of this passage. Everything else said in these verses is an
amplification or explanation of this command.
It is interesting that the biblical model for spiritual leadership is
not that of a—
--CEO sitting behind a desk or in a boardroom
arbitrarily making decisions which impact the lives of others...
--dynamic, motivational speaker who can sway a crowd’s
emotions with elegant words...
--learned scholar who is able to find spiritual truths
in every word or phrase of the Scripture...
--charismatic personality who just naturally inspires
the loyalty of others...
The primary biblical model for spiritual leadership is
that of a shepherd tenderly nurturing, protecting, providing for the flock
under his care...
In the Middle East, in biblical times as well as to
this very day, shepherds and their sheep are a common sight...and because it is
so common to see shepherds caring for their sheep in that part of the world,
the imagery of the shepherd and his sheep occurs time and time again in
Scripture—
--in Psalm 23 God is described as a shepherd who
abundantly provides for all of the needs of His sheep...
--in John 10 Jesus described Himself as “...the
good shepherd [who] lays down His life for the sheep...”
--several times in the NT the task of pastors is
described in terms of shepherding the flock of God...
Now, specifically, what does that mean? If you’ll look carefully at this passage
you’ll see that Peter makes three statements explaining the command to “shepherd
the flock of God among you...” Each
of the statements are in the same grammatical form. They are contrasts. Notice the repeated use of the words “not”
and “but” in the last part of v.2 and the first part of v.3. Not this way, but this way...
--”...not under compulsion, but
voluntarily, according to the will of God...”
--”...not for sordid gain, but
with eagerness...”
--”...nor yet as [or not] lording it over
those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the
flock...”
Each of those statements explain the command “…shepherd
the flock of God among you…” and each can also be summarized in a
single word.
--First statement, “...not under compulsion, but
voluntarily, according to the will of God...,” speaks to our attitude
about serving others...this statement can be summed up by the word “willingly”...Shepherding
the flock of God means serving others willingly - There is a vast difference between serving
others because you feel you have to and serving others because you genuinely
want to…
--Second statement, ”...not for sordid
gain, but with eagerness...,” speaks to our motive
in serving others...this statement can be summed up by the word “selflessly”...
Shepherding the flock of God means serving others selflessly...a
leader can--
--look out for self or others...
--exalt self or others...
--build up self or others...
--use people or serve people...
Albert Speer was the chief architect on who Hitler
relied to design the buildings of his Third Reich...after the war Speer was
tried at Nuremberg as a war criminal and sentenced to prison...after serving
his term, Speer wrote a book which gives a fascinating look from the inside at
the Third Reich...the book is entitled Inside the Third Reich ...in the
book tells of an event that took place on November 7, 1942...Hitler was sitting
down to supper in his elegant rosewood paneled diner on his special train...his
train was stopped at a switching station, and a freight train pulled up and was
stopped on the adjacent track...one of the cars of the freight train stopped
just two yards from the widow of Hitler’s dining car...crammed in the freight
car were starving, wounded German soldiers being returned from the eastern
front...they stared in astonishment at the Fuhrer only a few feet away from
them...and here’s how Albert Speer described what happened next...”Without
as much as a gesture of greeting in their direction, Hitler ordered the servant
to close the shades.”
True shepherds focus on the needs of those they are
leading, not their own personal needs...
--Third statement, ”...nor yet as [or not]
lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be
examples to the flock...,” speaks to our method of
serving others...this statement is summed up by the word “graciously”...
Shepherding the flock of God means serving others graciously...in
the spiritual realm, leaders have a responsibility to lead, but they are not to
lead as dictators... we lead by example...we must never expect other people to
do what we, ourselves, are unwilling to do...Peter makes it clear in v.2 that
the leader is not just over the flock but also “among” the
flock...we should--
--listen to those whom we lead...
--be responsive to them...
--learn from them...
--not to assume that we know it all and have nothing
else to learn...
I don’t know of a
better model for healthy interpersonal relationships than the one set forth in
these verses. Christian are to care for
each other like a good shepherd cares for the flock, and we should do so
willingly, selflessly, and graciously. Where
did Simon Peter, a common Galilean fisherman, learn such a model? No doubt he learned it from Jesus, Himself. In verse 4 Peter calls Jesus the “Chief
Shepherd.” For three
years Peter walked with Jesus. He
watched Jesus. He heard Jesus
teach. He saw how Jesus related to
others. And in this passage, Peter tells
us to relate to our brothers and sisters in Christ in that same way. Be willing.
Be selfless. Be gracious. That’s the way it should be in a Christian fellowship.
