1 Peter 5:4 Kommentar

In which the apostle gives particular directions, first to the elders, how to behave themselves towards their flock (Pe1 5:1-4); then to the younger, to be obedient and humble, and to cast their care upon God (Pe1 5:5-7). He then exhorts all to sobriety, watchfulness against temptations, and stedfastness in the faith, praying earnestly for them; and so concludes his epistle with a solemn doxology, mutual salutations, and his apostolical benediction.

INTRODUCTION TO 1 PETER 5 In this chapter the apostle first exhorts pastors and members of churches to their respective duties as such; and then to those which were common to them all, as Christians; and closes the epistle with prayers for them, salutations of them, and with his apostolic benediction. He begins with the pastors or elders, and describes himself as a fellow elder, an eyewitness of Christ's sufferings, and a partaker of his glory, Pe1 5:1, and these he exhorts to feed the flock of God, where they were; to take the charge and oversight of them, freely, readily, and willingly, and not through force or covetousness; and not to exercise a tyrannical dominion over them, but to be examples to them, Pe1 5:2, and the argument made use of to encourage them to all this is, that at the appearance of Christ, the chief Shepherd, they should receive a never fading crown of glory, Pe1 5:4 and next, the members of the churches are exhorted to submit to the rule and government of their pastors, being according to the word of God; and to be subject to one another; and particularly to put on humility, as a garment very ornamental to them; and the rather, since God opposes himself to men that are proud, but gives more grace to the humble, Pe1 5:5 and especially he exhorts them to be humble under the hand of God, since that is a mighty one, and this is the way to be exalted in due time; and also to cast their care upon him, seeing he cared for them, Pe1 5:6 and then the apostle proceeds to the common duties of Christians, and to exhort them to sobriety and watchfulness, since Satan their adversary was a cruel and indefatigable one, and ever seeking the ruin of men; and to resist him in the steadfast exercise of faith, and patiently bear all afflictions, seeing the same were accomplished in their brethren in the world, Pe1 5:8 and then he puts up some petitions for them, that they might be perfected, stablished, strengthened, and settled, Pe1 5:10 and ascribes glory and dominion for ever to the God of grace, to whom he prays, Pe1 5:11 after which he names the person by whom he sends this epistle, giving a summary of it; that it was an exhortation and a testimony to the true doctrine of grace wherein they stood, Pe1 5:12, and next follow the salutations of the church at Babylon, and of his son Marcus, to them, Pe1 5:13, and lastly, he desires they would salute one another with a kiss of love, and gives them his benedictory wish, Pe1 5:14.

And when the chief Shepherd shall appear,.... This is the encouraging motive and argument to engage the elders and pastors of churches to discharge their office faithfully, cheerfully, and in an humble manner: by "the chief Shepherd" is meant Christ, who may well be called so, since he is God's fellow, and in all respects equal with him, and is the Shepherd and Bishop of the souls of men; all other bishops, pastors, and elders, are under him; they receive their commissions from him to feed his lambs and sheep; are made pastors and overseers by him; and have their gifts, qualifying them for such offices, from him; and have their several flocks assigned unto them by him; and from him have they all the food with which they feed them, and are accountable to him for them, and the discharge of their office; so that Christ is the chief Shepherd, in the dignity of his person, he being God over all, blessed for ever; in his qualifications for his office, having all power, grace, and wisdom in him, to protect his flock, supply their wants, guide and direct them; and in the nature and number of his flock, being rational creatures, the souls of men, even elect men; and though they are, when compared with others, but a little flock, yet, considered by themselves, are a great number; and especially the general assembly will be, in comparison of the little bodies and societies of saints under pastors and teachers, of Christ's setting over them, with respect to whom, principally, he is called the chief Shepherd: the allusion is to the principal shepherd, whose own the sheep were, or, however, had the principal charge of them; who used to have others under him, to do the several things relating to the flocks he directed, and were called "little shepherds"; so Aben Ezra says (s), it was customary for the shepherd to have under him , "little shepherds": the same perhaps with the hirelings, whose own the sheep are not, Joh 10:12 who are retained, or removed, according to their behaviour; these, in the Talmudic language, are called (t), or though, according to Guido (u), the word, pronounced in the latter way, signifies a "chief shepherd", who takes care of men, and has other shepherds, servants under him; and such an one used to be called , "the great", or "chief shepherd"; so Maimonides (w) says, it was the custom of shepherds to have servants under them, to whom they committed the flocks to keep; so that when , "the chief shepherd", delivered to other shepherds what was under his care, these came in his room; and if there was any loss, the second shepherd, who was under the "chief shepherd", was obliged to make good the loss, and not the first shepherd, who was the chief shepherd; and to the same purpose says another of their commentators (x); it is the custom of , "the chief shepherd", to deliver (the flock) to the little shepherd that is under him; wherefore the shepherd that is under him is obliged to make good any loss: now, such a shepherd is Christ; he has others under him, whom he employs in feeding his sheep, and who are accountable to him, and must give up their account when he appears: at present he is out of the bodily sight of men, being received up to heaven, where he will be retained till the time of the restitution of all things; and then he will appear a second time in great glory, in his own, and in his Father's, and in the glory of his holy angels: and when he thus appears, ye shall receive a crown of glory which fadeth not away; in distinction from those crowns which were given to the conqueror, in the Olympic games; which were made of divers flowers, of the olive, wild olive, pine tree, and of parsley, and inserted in a branch of the wild olive tree (y) and which quickly faded away; or in allusion to crowns made of amaranthus (z), the plant "everlasting", so called, from the nature of it, because it never fades: the eternal glory and happiness, which is here meant by a crown of glory, or a glorious crown, never fades away, but ever shines in its full lustre; and this faithful ministers shall receive at the hands of the chief Shepherd, as a gift of his, as a reward of grace; when they have finished their work, they will enter into the joy of their Lord, and shine as the stars for ever and ever; they shall reign with Christ, as kings, on a throne of glory, wearing a crown of glory, and enjoying a kingdom and glory to all eternity. (s) Comment. in Zech. xi. 8. (t) T. Bab. Bava Kama, fol. 56. 2. (u) Dictionar. Syr. Chald. p. 102. (w) In Misn. Bava Kama, c. 6. sect. 2. (x) Bartenora in Misn. Bava Kama, c. 6. sect. 2. (y) Vide Paschalium de Coronis, l. 6. c. 1. p. 339. c. 16. p. 391. c. 18. p. 399. c. 19. p. 413. (z) Ib. l. 3. c. 11. p. 178.

But let us, beloved, return in our discourse to that point whence we digressed, exclaiming, Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord: that good and kind Shepherd, voluntarily to lay down His life for His sheep. That just as hunters take by a sheep the wolves that devour sheep, even so the Chief Shepherd,

While thinking of himself as a martyr to be, Cyprian did not allow himself to forget that he was still a bishop and was more anxious about the account he was to give to the chief shepherd concerning the sheep committed to him than he was about the answer he would give to the unbelieving proconsul, concerning his own faith.

Furthermore, when it is said, "And when the chief Shepherd appears," it is a conjunction. And it is informally placed for "So that": that is, "So that when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory." Just as in Psalm 89, when it is said, "And look upon your servants and upon your works." For there "And" is placed in the place of "Because of which."

Can death have any power over the souls which have been sealed by the grace of the Holy Spirit and the blood of Christ? Dare the spiritual wolf look straight at the seal of Christ the good shepherd, which he places on his own sheep? By no means, faithful brothers of godly mind!

In the words "and when the Chief Shepherd appears," the conjunction "and" is put in place of "so that," that is, so that when the Chief Shepherd appears, you may receive the crown of incorruption.

Directions to the elders to feed the flock of God, and not to be lord over God's heritage, that when the chief Shepherd does appear, they may receive a crown of glory, Pe1 5:1-4. The young are to submit themselves to the elder, and to humble themselves under the mighty hand of God, and cast all their care upon him, Pe1 5:5-7. They should be sober and watchful, because their adversary the devil is continually seeking their destruction, whom they are to resist, steadfast in the faith, Pe1 5:8, Pe1 5:9. They are informed that the God of all grace had called them to his eternal glory, Pe1 5:10-11. Of Silvanus, by whom this epistle was sent, Pe1 5:12. Salutations from the Church at Babylon, Pe1 5:13. The apostolic benediction, Pe1 5:14.

When the chief Shepherd - That is, the Lord Jesus Christ, whose is the flock, and who provides the pasture, and from whom, if ye are legally called to the most awful work of preaching the Gospel, ye have received your commission; when he shall appear to judge the world in righteousness, ye who have fed his flock, who have taken the superintendency of it, not by constraint, nor for filthy lucre's sake, not as lords over the heritage, but with a ready mind, employing body, soul, spirit, time and talents, in endeavoring to pluck sinners as brands from eternal burnings, and build up the Church of Christ on its most holy faith; Ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away, an eternal nearness and intimacy with the ineffably glorious God; so that ye who have turned many to righteousness shall shine, not merely as stars, but as suns in the kingdom of your Father! O ye heavenly-minded, diligent, self-denying pastors after God's own heart, whether ye be in the Church established by the state, or in those divisions widely separated from, or nearly connected with it, take courage; preach Jesus; press through all difficulties in the faith of your God; fear no evil while meditating nothing but good. Ye are stars in the right hand of Jesus, who walks among your golden candlesticks, and has lighted that lamp of life which ye are appointed to trim; fear not, your labor in the Lord cannot be in vain! Never, never can ye preach one sermon in the spirit of your office, which the God of all grace shall permit to be unfruitful; ye carry and sow the seed of the kingdom by the command and on the authority of your God; ye sow it, and the heavens shall drop down dew upon it. Ye may go forth weeping, though bearing this precious seed; but ye shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing your sheaves with you. Amen, even so, Lord Jesus!

EXHORTATIONS TO ELDERS, JUNIORS, AND ALL IN GENERAL. PARTING PRAYER. CONCLUSION. (Pe1 5:1-14) elders--alike in office and age (Pe1 5:5). I . . . also an elder--To put one's self on a level with those whom we exhort, gives weight to one's exhortations (compare Jo2 1:1-2). Peter, in true humility for the Gospel's sake, does not put forward his apostleship here, wherein he presided over the elders. In the apostleship the apostles have no successors, for "the signs of an apostle" have not been transmitted. The presidents over the presbyters and deacons, by whatever name designated, angel, bishop, or moderator, &c., though of the same ORDER as the presbyters, yet have virtually succeeded to a superintendency of the Church analogous to that exercised by the apostles (this superintendency and priority existed from the earliest times after the apostles [TERTULLIAN]); just as the Jewish synagogue (the model which the Church followed) was governed by a council of presbyters, presided over by one of themselves, "the chief ruler of the synagogue." (Compare VITRINGA [Synagogue and Temple, Part II, chs. 3 and 7]). witness--an eye-witness of Christ's sufferings, and so qualified to exhort you to believing patience in suffering for well-doing after His example (Pe1 4:19; Pe1 2:20). This explains the "therefore" inserted in the oldest manuscripts, "I therefore exhort," resuming exhortation from Pe1 4:19. His higher dignity as an apostle is herein delicately implied, as eye-witnessing was a necessary qualification for apostleship: compare Peter's own speeches, Act 1:21-22; Act 2:32; Act 10:39. also--implying the righteous recompense corresponding to the sufferings. partaker of the glory--according to Christ's promise; an earnest of which was given in the transfiguration.

And--"And so": as the result of "being ensamples" (Pe1 5:3). chief Shepherd--the title peculiarly Christ's own, not Peter's or the pope's. when . . . shall appear--Greek, "be manifested" (Col 3:4). Faith serves the Lord while still unseen. crown--Greek, "stephanos," a garland of victory, the prize in the Grecian games, woven of ivy, parsley, myrtle, olive, or oak. Our crown is distinguished from theirs in that it is "incorruptible" and "fadeth not away," as the leaves of theirs soon did. "The crown of life." Not a kingly "crown" (a different Greek word, diadema): the prerogative of the Lord Jesus (Rev 19:12). glory--Greek, "the glory," namely, to be then revealed (Pe1 5:1; Pe1 4:13). that fadeth not away--Greek, "amaranthine" (compare Pe1 1:4).