Elders
To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ’s sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed. Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers 1 Peter 5:1,2
Because of the rural economy of early Israel, it seems quite natural that the shepherd-sheep model becomes the standard image for how God Himself, or the anointed king, are to look after the sheep (Psalm 23; Ezekiel 34). Jesus Himself drew heavily on the biblical traditions of God’s desire to shepherd His people Israel (John 10:1-16).
Jesus is the ‘Chief Shepherd’ who will reappear at His second coming. He will be the model, the standard, by which all other shepherds are to be judged.
Because Peter had just been writing about ‘judgement to begin with the family of God’ (4:17) his thinking naturally turns to heart purity in the relationships God’s people experience, beginning with the leaders of the church. He calls himself a ‘fellow elder’ meaning he sees himself as one with whom God’s judgement will begin, and one who needs to be just as much an example to the flock as those to whom he writes.
He is ‘a witness of Christ’s sufferings,’ a blunt recalling of the most painful episode in his life when he denied Christ. His point is probably to emphasise that restoration is always possible with Christ. Peter knows his past but he knows the extraordinary way Jesus lifted him up and brought him back. Peter now knows he ‘will share in the glory to be revealed.’ This is the future glory believers will know at Christ’s return (1:7; 4:13; 5:4,10). Peter is an ‘elder’ who has sinned, repented, been restored and will share with Christ in glory. He can rightly exhort any elder overtaken by any sin to likewise repent, and be restored before God’s disciplinary fire reaches him.
The reference to Christ’s sufferings might also be meant as a reminder to the elders that just as Christ suffered for them, they must be willing to suffer for the sake of those in their churches. This fits what immediately follows, ‘Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care.’ Peter adds, ‘serving as overseers.’ So Peter, addressing the elders, tells them to be shepherds of God’s flock, as overseers.
The elder is the man, chosen because of his relative maturity of character and spiritual experience. The overseer (in most churches called ‘elders’) is the title for the office or position he holds. Shepherding is the work he does.
Are you an overseer (elder)? Copy your life on Christ’s. If you’re not an elder but are you in a church where there are elders, pray for these leaders. They carry a very great responsibility and one for which Christ will hold them accountable.
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