20:28
Remember that Paul is speaking to the elders of the church here (20:17). They are to watch over themselves and the flock. We need to guard our own hearts, otherwise it so easy for sin to ensnare us and we will be no good at looking after the flock. We see again the role of the Holy Spirit, it is He who makes us shepherds of the flock. The seriousness and awesomeness of the task is further emphasised by the Paul’s mention that the church belongs to God and was bought by “His own blood”. Notice the implicit statement that Christ is God. In fact we have a very trinitarian verse here, and one that is made in passing, rather than a deliberate attempt to make a doctrinal statement. The fact that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are three persons, are all divine, and are one God is the only way of making sense of the New Testament.
20:29
This was no easy task that Paul was giving the elders. Paul knew that trouble would come, savage wolves would seek to ravage the flock. In Revelation 2 we read of some of the things that happened in Ephesus. Paul did not try and tell them that life would be rosy. We are in a battle, and we need to fulfil the tasks that God gives to us.
No comments:
Post a Comment