EXPLORE THE TEXT
Pastoral leaders are to serve with humility.
1 I exhort the elders among you as a fellow elder and witness to the sufferings of Christ,
as well as one who shares in the glory about to be revealed:
2 Shepherd God's flock among you, not overseeing out of compulsion but willingly, as God would have you;
not out of greed for money but eagerly;
3 not lording it over those entrusted to you,
but being examples to the flock.
4 And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.
In John 21, Jesus restored Peter after His disciples had denied Him three times.
Each time, He made a reference to Peter's role as a shepherd.
Later, the apostle Paul challenged the leaders in Ephesus to embrace their responsibilities as shepherds called to protect God's flock for predators.
Read and reflect on the passages below.
Ask God how you can care for the “sheep” who cross your paths each day:
15 So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter,
"Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?"
He said to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love You "
He said to him, "Tend My lambs."
16 He said to him again a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me?"
He said to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love You."
He said to him, "Shepherd My sheep."17 He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me?"
Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, "Do you love Me?"
And he said to Him, "Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You "
Jesus said to him, "Tend My sheep.18 "Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished;
but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go."
19 Now this He said, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God
And when He had spoken this, He said to him, "Follow Me!"
17 From Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called to him the elders of the church.
18 And when they had come to him, he said to them, "You yourselves know, from the first day that I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time,19 serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials which came upon me through the plots of the Jews;
20 how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and from house to house,
21 solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
22 "And now, behold, bound by the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there,
23 except that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me.
24 "But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God.
25 "And now, behold, I know that all of you, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, will no longer see my face.
26 "Therefore, I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men.
27 "For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God.
28 "Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.
29 "I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock;
30 and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.
31 "Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears.
32 "And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.
33 "I have coveted no one's silver or gold or clothes.
34 "You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my own needs and to the men who were with me.
35 "In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"
36 When he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all.
37 And they began to weep aloud and embraced Paul, and repeatedly kissed him,
38 grieving especially over the word which he had spoken, that they would not see his face again And they were accompanying him to the ship.
suggest ways Peter challenged the leaders of the church.
As each point is presented, define it in terms of shepherding.
Jesus is the chief Shepherd and the crown of glory that humble elders will receive.
Just as the elders were to demonstrate humility in their leadership,
Peter also exhorted followers to do the same.