Peter's Letters
9 - A Word for Shepherds and Sheep
Chapter 5 of 1 Peter opens with an exhortation to the elders, the spiritual leaders of the church. It comes from a veteran shepherd, Peter, who describes himself as ‘a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed’ (NKJV verse 1).
William Barclay speaks of eldership as an honour – the oldest religious office in the world whose history can be traced through Christianity and Judaism 4,000 years. An elder was a defender of the faith.
Peter writes “Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly” (NKJV verse 2). Sheep are allotted to our care, as church leaders. We are expected to display the attitude of God to the flock, an attitude of seeking love. One must have a shepherd’s heart, if one would do a shepherd’s work. F. B. Meyer wrote, “It is not enough to preach to the flock once or twice each week. There must be personal supervision, watching for souls as by those who must give account. Seeking them if they go astray.”
A New Testament bishop or overseer was not a man who dressed in a special hat or wore a large ring which all the people stooped to kiss. Nor was the eldership a chain-gang, but a fellowship of servants. Not driving, but leading: not domineering, but setting an example. The elders supplied a local sphere of service, they had a fixed spiritual abode. On that day ‘when the Chief Shepherd appears’ there will be an unfading crown of glory for elders.
The young men are told to be submissive to those who are older, and all are instructed to be clothed with humility towards one another because “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (verse 5).
Suffering often produces humility and patience. Slaves used to knot a white scarf or apron over their clothing to distinguish themselves from freemen. Jesus wore such an apron when he washed the disciples’ feet in John chapter 13. Christians should tie humility, like a piece of clothing, to their conduct so that everyone is able to recognise them. “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you” (verses 6 and 7). Cast means throw. He is the burden-bearer. We are to treat cares as we treat sins. Hand them over to Jesus one by one as they occur. He takes up the isles as a very little thing, therefore, how easily He can manage our heaviest load. The weary ache of care need burden you no longer.
There’s a lovely verse in Proverbs chapter 12 verse 25. “An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up.”
Peter continues, “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of suffering” (verses 8 and 9). The devil is constantly harassing the saints. Underneath the arenas in Rome, literally, there were hungry lions caged up, waiting to be released into the midst of helpless Christians. One of Satan’s tactics is to seek to depress believers so they concentrate exclusively on their own problems.
Through suffering God will restore a person. The Greek word is the word for mending nets. Suffering can repair the weaknesses in a person’s character. The story is told of a mother who lost her favourite son. Her daughter commented, “That’s where my mother got her soft eyes and that is why other mothers ran to her when they had lost a child.”
So Peter signs off “And the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast” (verse 10). It is God alone who can establish a man – make him as solid as granite and fill him with strength.
In his post-script Peter mentions Silas, Paul’s right hand man on the second missionary journey. He’s a faithful brother. Verse 13 presents us with a slight mystery. It says “She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you her greetings.” According to Calvin and Erasmus this really is Babylon, not a code name for Rome, but the ancient city of Babylon itself where a large colony of Jews had fled following the severe persecution in Rome under the Emperor Claudius. So Peter’s many exhortations in his first letter have come to an end. A brief letter encouraging the scattered saints to stand fast in the true grace of God.
Peter has been writing to alert the Christians who were currently going through the mill for Christ that they have a secure future in Him unlike investors whose ‘securities’ can go up or down in value. They may feel like round pegs in square holes in this abusive world, often facing critical verbal sniper-fire, but they remain God’s own special people. Christian, I’m sure you are not unaware that the devil is the instigator of verbal flack from non-Christians, for he wants to ‘devour’ us, that is, to do away with us.
Tertullian contrasts the exceptional lives of the early Christians with the heathen. The heathen delighted in the bloody gladiatorial shows in the amphitheatre, whereas a Christian was excommunicated if he went to it at all. When pagans deserted their nearest relatives in the plague Christian’s ministered to the sick. When Gentiles left their dead unburied on the field of battle and cast their wounded into the streets, the disciples hastened to relieve their sufferings. In fact Pliny admitted in his letter to the Emperor Trajan that there was no cause of blame in the followers of the new religion ‘save a perverse and extravagant superstition.’ It was Tertullian who remarked “How these Christians love one another.”