Be shepherds of God’s flock

Read 1 Peter 5:1-2a

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Peter ends his letter by urging that the proper response to suffering is to live whole-heartedly for Christ. The connection with the previous content is not obvious in some English versions but the Greek includes the word therefore, linking back to “continue to do good” (4:19). For that to happen, the elders have a responsibility to set a good example (1 Cor.11:1; Ph.3:17).

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Elders refers to those who are mature in the faith and who serve as leaders in one way or another. Peter’s exhortation to them (1) deliberately repeats all the key words in 4:13 – participate/share, suffering of Christ, glory revealed. This is the common experience of all Christians, not just his, and the basis of his appeal to them.

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So Peter urges them to “be shepherds of God’s flock” (2), just as he himself had been given the same charge by Jesus (Jn.21:16). To oversee the flock is to lovingly encourage living as God’s people. Paul similarly told elders to “Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock... Be shepherds of the church of God” (Acts 20:28). Notice that keeping watch over others must begin with carefully watching our own conduct, and v2b-3 will describe what this means in practice.