The Chief Shepherd

This study is dedicated to Dick Frost who encouraged me to write it. He was my shepherd for many years when I was in mission work overseas. He remains my mentor and shepherd and an encourager to me to this day.

The Chief Shepherd: 1 Peter 5:4

The shepherd with his staff and rod was a common sight on the Judean hills and in the valleys of Galilee as he shepherded his flock, whether it was in the hundreds or thousands, in the heat of the day and the cold of the night. It was a lonely life. It could be a dangerous life. Ask David. He once slew a lion and bear that had taken one of his lambs. It was a tiring life. It was a 24-hour occupation. He would arise early to lead the flock out to green pastures. He would lead them to still waters. When they were sick, he nursed them to health. He knew them by name. He was the flock’s all-in-all. He was their guide, a leader, a protector, a doctor, and their overseer. He sustained them, secured them, fleeced them when necessary, and loved them unto death. All these responsibilities and more, he did out of love for them, not by constraint.

1 Perhaps the most intimate:

Perhaps the most intimate of all the personal designations worn by our Lord, and probably His favorite, was that of the shepherd. Five times Jesus is spoken of as the Shepherd in the New Testament. Jesus referred to Himself as “the good Shepherd” twice in the great shepherd chapter of John 10. (Jn. 10:11,14). It is not surprising that Peter made two references to his Lord as a shepherd in his first epistle. He called Him “the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls” because we were as sheep going astray (1 Pe. 2:25) and “the chief Shepherd” that soon shall appear (1 Pe. 5:4). And, in Hebrews 13:20, the unnamed apostle identified Him as “the great shepherd of the sheep.” He is the “Chief Shepherd of the flock.”

From the perspective of Jewish leaders and others, Jesus was a carpenter, the son of a carpenter. Mark recorded how Jesus astonished them with His teaching, saying, “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him” (Mk. 6:3). In Jesus’ perspective, He was a shepherd. Matthew recorded once, “But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd” (Mt. 9:36). He said to Simon Peter, “Feed my lambs…feed my sheep” (Jn. 21:15-17).

It is not surprising then that it was Simon Peter who designated the Lord Jesus as “the chief Shepherd” of the flock.

2 Simon Peter focused

Simon Peter focused on the immutable character of the Lord Jesus when he designated Him as “the chief Shepherd.” True shepherds were men of character. It’s understood that there were good shepherds as well as hirelings, or bad ones, that felt no attachment to the flocks except for pay. No shepherd, good or bad, possessed an immutable character. They were susceptible to change. Good shepherds, however, were constant in character. As immutable relates to the Lord Jesus, Peter indicated a familiar human trait, a human characteristic that transcended all human characteristics because the Lord’scharacter was divine. Being one of the original disciples and having lived with Him, listened to Him, and watched His interactions with all people, Simon Peter never once witnessed any variation in the character of the Messiah. He said that the Lord was chief in His character. Jesus was and is absolute and unchangeable in character. He is holy. He is righteous. He is faithful. The Lord God reminded Israel through Malachi, “I am the Lord, I change not” (Mal. 3:6). In doing so, the Lord God attested to the fact that whatever He does, it is always in character to His absolute and unchangeable character. The testimony of the Apostle Paul of the Lord Jesus is similar to that of Malachi. He said, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever” (Heb. 13:8).

3 Flowing from the immutable character

Flowing from the immutable character of the Lord is His indispensable commitment to His flock. Etched in my memory from my trip to Israel are the large flocks of sheep and goats on the mountainsides just outside of Jerusalem with their shepherd nearby tending to their needs. The shepherd is indispensable to his flock. The flock depends upon their shepherd for their life. Shepherding the flock wasn’t a burden to a good shepherd; it was a blessing. So, as the flock needs their shepherd to be vigilant over them, the church, the flock of God, needs their God-called and appointed leaders to shepherd them. They needed him to be vigilant against the predators who were attempting to scatter the sheep. Sheep are defenseless against predators and weak on their own. Therefore, Peter wrote this letter to encourage the elders to willingly assume their responsibilities by taking oversight of God’s flock, His saved ones, and “feed the flock of God.” He exhorted them by reminding them that he also was an elder as they were and that he was “a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed” (1 Pe. 5:1). He was an apostle, an elder, an overseer, a shepherd shepherding the shepherds. True, he had a privileged position, a rank of great importance that they didn’t have. But they could look to him for encouragement. However, the greatest example was Jesus, “the chief Shepherd” who willingly suffered all the hardships and cruelties that fallen man could offer and tasted death, but conquered death and sin just as David killed the lion and bear. The point is a good shepherd is committed to his flock. He is indispensable.

4 Although the Chief Shepherd

Although the chief Shepherd had ascended into glory for the time being and was absent from them, He was coming again, and they were going to share in that glory. In the midst of the hardships they were encountering, the daily care of the flock, and the pressures from without, these shepherds were to be faithful because of the imminent coming of their chief Shepherd. Jesus made the promise to the disciples and everyone on the eve of His death, “I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also” (Jn. 14:2-3). Picking up this promise of the Lord, Peter said to these elders that they should be faithful to “God’s heritage,” and not be “lords over God’s heritage,” but be “ensamples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away” (1 Pe. 5:3-4).