Page 12 - May 2023 - Truth & Tidings

God has designed the local church to be suffering for righteousness, with strong
guided, led and fed by a plurality of quali- pastoral leadership from their elders being
fied men (1Ti 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9), called a necessity for all Christians, especially
elders or overseers. These words empha- those experiencing persecution.
sise different aspects of the qualifications The basis for Peter’s exhortation is as
and function of these men. Shepherding follows: “So I exhort the elders among
the Lord’s people is an apt description of you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the
an elder/overseer’s service for the Lord. sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker
There are plenty of examples in the in the glory that is going to be revealed”
OT of good and bad spiritual shepherds. (5:1). Peter appeals to elders as one of
The ultimate shepherd is God (Psalm their own. He has already established his
23) and He is the standard by which apostolic authority (1:1), but now we learn
His under-shepherds are measured. He that he also functioned as an elder of a
is the example for every elder who is local church. He is making the point that
tasked with shepherding the people of he understands the challenges of spiritual
God. Then there are the imperfect, yet leadership; he can relate to them.
good, examples of Moses and David. In He also knows about suffering as a wit-
contrast, Jeremiah and especially Ezekiel ness of the sufferings of Christ. It must
(34:1-10) had strong words for the elders have been a deep regret for Peter that the
of Israel and their abject failure as spiritual Lord’s sufferings would always remind
shepherds. The list is long and includes him of his own denial of the Lord. As a
leading the people into sin, ignoring the beneficiary of the Lord’s pastoral care
sick and wounded, leaving the scattered following his failure, Peter has taken his
sheep to fend for themselves, and behav- place as a public witness to the sufferings
ing harshly. of Christ. He understands their challenges,
It is interesting that God’s answer to the knows the blessing of pastoral care fol-
failures of His under-shepherds is direct lowing failure, and reminds them that he
intervention Himself (34:11-17). In con- shares the same secure hope of glory in
trast to Israel’s failed shepherds, the Lord the face of persecution.
will search for the sheep when they are Next, we find Peter’s exhortation to be
scattered, deliver them from danger and a shepherd: “Shepherd the flock of God
recover them to feed them; He makes sure that is among you” (v2a). With empathy
that they are safe, fed and rested. and authority Peter commands elders to
The NT picks up the same theme of pas- take care of the Christians that are their
toral care which the Lord provides for His immediate responsibility. Their pastoral
people through elders overseeing the local care is for the sheep under their care and
church. Peter, who was himself an elder, those sheep alone. Could Peter be remem-
provides instruction for elders to lead the bering the command of the Lord to him
people of God as shepherds should lead on resurrection ground (“Shepherd My
their sheep (1Pe 5:1-4). It is worth noting sheep,” Joh 21:16)? What he had received
that Peter moves from the inevitability of directly from the Lord, he now commands
persecution for the Christians in chapter his fellow shepherds.
4 to his instruction to elders in chapter 5. How does this translate into the ordi-
Peter was preparing his readers to endure nary week-to-week routines of a local

140 TRUTH kTidings May 2023