For ye were going astray as sheep, but have now returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls.
Read Full Chapter →Commentary for this Verse
Peter has been writing to household servants, and he closes by reminding them where they once were and who holds them now. The verse looks back to a straying flock and forward to a care that never lets go, and it raises the question of who did the returning.
The straying past
One writer connects the wandering flock to Israel's history, and to the servants Peter is addressing.
It is in the past that we were like sheep going astray, and this was especially true of Israel. Now at least these to whom Peter writes had returned to the Shepherd and Overseer (or bishop) of their souls. This is Christ, of course. So it is Christ who, in the Old Testament, was the true Shepherd — though Israel hardly recognised it. It was Him they had left. How precious for them the truth of Psalm 23: "He restores my soul!" Notice that all of this connects with household servants — the subject Peter began in verse 18.
Who did the returning
"Have now returned" sounds like something the sheep managed. One writer places the credit elsewhere.
The Good Shepherd leaves the rest safe, in search of the stray sheep. After it He goes in earnest love, as if He had no other; and having found it, He lays it on His shoulders rejoicing. When He comes home, He calls His friends and neighbours together to rejoice with Him over the lost one found… If we have returned — as we can now say — it is only because the Shepherd and Overseer of souls came to seek and save us.
What "Overseer" means
The second title (older translations render it "Bishop") is a working word, not a rank.
The word bishop means one who looks on. He is one who oversees, one who takes practical care of the spiritual welfare of the saints. The Greek word for bishop is episkopos (epi, on; skopos, look on or consider). It occurs five times in the Scriptures: once referring to our Lord (1 Peter 2:25), three times translated bishop (Philippians 1:1; 1 Timothy 3:2; Titus 1:7), and once translated overseer (Acts 20:28).
Overseer of souls
Peter names the Shepherd first, then the Overseer — and he ties that second title to our souls. One writer weighs both the order and the wording.
Is the order in which Peter mentions the Shepherd and the Overseer worth noticing? As the Shepherd, the Lord has to do with the sheep before His overseeing care can begin. Besides the order, we should also mark the wording used. He calls the Lord Overseer of our souls. Not merely an overseer, not an overseer in the flock — there were such men on earth, appointed by the Holy Spirit. He calls Him Overseer of our souls, the One who in His grace shows overseeing care for each of His people, one by one. He is the Overseer of our souls, whatever believers think about it, and whether or not they are aware of His personal service to them.
Restoring a soul that wanders
A returned sheep can still wander. One writer turns to Psalm 23 for what happens then.
"He restores my soul." Only Jesus could save us. Only He can make us lie down in green pastures. Only He can lead us beside the still waters. And only He can restore a soul when it has strayed.
Written by a man who had strayed
Peter himself had gone astray. One writer hears that history behind the verse.
Peter had not been teachable and submissive to his Lord like his friend John, but the Shepherd and Overseer of his soul had not let him go. We can understand his feelings as he wrote these words. The Shepherd dealt with him in grace when he went astray. He had drunk deeply of that grace, and could write, "The Lord is good" — older translations read, "The Lord is gracious." No one knew it better than he. In the end he stood restored and confident among his brothers, and the great and chief Shepherd recommissioned him.
Where the safety lies
If the return was His work, the keeping is His responsibility too.
As sheep, our security is the responsibility of our Shepherd (1 Peter 2:25)… The struggles of the sheep would not be to keep on, but to get off. We are not saved by our "holding on," for sheep have no hands to hold on by. Now the rejoicing Shepherd carries all His sheep along on His shoulders, and so all are saved alike. The Shepherd will make sure that not one shall slip off His shoulders.
Summary
- Straying — the wandering is past and finished. Israel above all had left the very Shepherd who was theirs all along.
- Sought — sheep do not find their way home; we returned only because He came after us and carried us back rejoicing.
- Souls — episkopos means one who looks on and takes practical care. He oversees not a congregation but each person, one by one.
- Restored — only the Shepherd who saved us can bring back a soul that wanders. Peter, who had strayed himself, knew that firsthand.
- Secure — sheep have no hands to hold on with, and they need none. Staying on His shoulders is His work, not ours.