(1a) The saying is trustworthy.
I’m not sure if Paul intended this to go with the previous statements or the statements that follow or both. All of the statements Paul is making pertain specifically to the way that Timothy is to lead God’s people.
Regardless, this phrase functions as an attention getter. This saying is trustworthy! It’s true! So believe it, trust it, act on it! Too often we read the Bible or hear it read and tune out. It’s as if our ears and our listening capacities are in rebellion, lest they hear and know God.
God in his grace has spoken. He has saved us by speaking. Have we ears to hear? Let’s pay attention!
(1b) If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task
Observation: there is an office in the Church called ‘overseer.’ Scripture uses this term interchangeably with ‘pastor’ or ‘elder.’ It’s the same office. These are the men that, as a group, lead the local church. See Titus 1, 1 Peter 5, and if you’re really curious go to Bible Gateway and search for those words.
There’s something intrinsic in this word about an overseer’s role. He is to oversee. He’s to observe. He’s to be perceptive. He must know God’s people.
It also implies that the local church has a collective goal or group of goals. The overseer is to superintend the church in attaining those goals. He is to lead.
It also implies that he is responsible for the spiritual care of individuals. He is to help correct the paths that people walk on.
We see these things in Paul’s early commands to Timothy – get people believing the Gospel and walking according to it. Christ saved sinners by dying and rising from the dead. He inaugurated a Kingdom with a new and otherworldly ethic – centered on love.
Another observation: men could aspire to this office. Though it is clear from this section and others that elders were appointed, it’s noted here that it is something that a man could have an inward drive towards.
Another observation: the job of an overseer is a ‘noble task,’ or literally, in Greek, a ‘good work.’ Now, that doesn’t mean that the man himself is noble or good. It means the service or role that God has created and instituted is good.
And that’s why there’s a large list of necessary qualifications for someone to be appointed as a pastor.
Here’s the thing: Jesus is the ultimate overseer. He is the one overseeing everything, caring for his people, guiding his people. And he has instituted an office under himself so that there is immediate, tangible care for his people. He is, as 1 Peter 5 says, the ‘Chief Shepherd’ and pastors are ‘under-shepeherds.’
They are to represent Jesus in word, in leadership, and in care physically for God’s people.
And this is one way in which God has chosen to care for his little flock – for those who are heirs of his Kingdom through Christ’s bloody death and victorious rising.
In sum,
1) We need to pay attention to and trust God’s word.
2) Churches are to be led by groups of men called ‘overseers.’
3) These men are to know the people, love the people, and guide the people by God’s word.
4) Ultimately, these men are to represent Jesus physically to the Church by caring for her in his physical absence, through his Spiritual presence.
Prayer:
Father, thank you for speaking! Thank you for granting faith in your word. Thank you for loving us. Thank you for the Chief Shepherd who laid down his life for us sheep. Thank you for giving us an office in which we are to be tangibly led.
Thanks for the elders in my church. I pray that you would teach them from your word. Give them hearts that love your people. Give them the knowledge from your word necessary to lead us well.
Thank you that one day we will be with you forever, and we will see your Son, our Head Pastor, and experience his love fully. We long for that day!
In his name we pray, amen.
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