Acts 20:28
28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
1. He commits the care of the church at Ephesus, that is, the saints, the Christians that were there and thereabouts (Eph. 1:1), to them, who, though doubtless they were so numerous that they could not all meet in one place, but worshipped God in several congregations, under the conduct of several ministers, are yet called here one flock, because they not only agreed in one faith, as they did with all Christian churches, but in many instances they kept up communion one with another. To these elders or presbyters the apostle here, upon the actual foresight of his own final leaving them, commits the government of this church, and tells them that not he, but the Holy Ghost, had made them overseers, ἐπισκόπους—bishops of the flock. “You that are presbyters are bishops of the Holy Ghost’s making, that are to take the oversight of this part of the church of God” 1 Pet. 5:1-2; Tit. 1:5,7. While Paul was present at Ephesus, he presided in all the affairs of that church, which made the elders loath to part with him; but now this eagle stirs up the nest, flutters over her young; now that they begin to be fledged they must learn to fly themselves, and act without him, for the Holy Ghost had made them overseers. They took not this honour to themselves, nor was it conferred upon them by any prince or potentate, but the Holy Ghost in them qualified them for, and enriched them to, this great undertaking, the Holy Ghost fell upon them, Acts 19:16. The Holy Ghost also directed those that chose, and called, and ordained, them to this work in answer to prayer.
2. He commanded them to mind the work to which they were called. Dignity calls for duty; if the Holy Ghost has made them overseers of the flock, that is, shepherds, they must be true to their trust.
(1.) They must take heed to themselves in the first place, must have a very jealous eye upon all the motions of their own souls, and upon all they said and did, must walk circumspectly, and know how to behave themselves aright in the house of God, in which they were now advanced the the office of stewards: “You have many eyes upon you, some to take example by you, others to pick quarrels with you, and therefore you ought to take heed to yourselves.” Those are not likely to be skillful or faithful keepers of the vineyards of others that do not keep their own.
(2.) “Take heed to all the flock, that none of them either of themselves wander from the fold or be seized by the beasts of prey; that none of them be missing, or miscarry, through your neglect.”
(3.) They must feed the church of God, must do all the parts of the shepherd’s office, must lead the sheep of Christ into the green pastures, must lay meat before them, must do what they can to heal those that are distempered and have no appetite to their meat, must feed them with wholesome doctrine, with a tender evangelical discipline, and must see that nothing is wanting that is necessary in order to their being nourished up to eternal life. There is need of pastors, not only to gather the church of God by the bringing in of those that are without, but to feed it by building up those that are within.
(4.) They must watch (Acts 20:31), as shepherds keep watch over the flocks by night, must be awake and watchful, must not give way to spiritual sloth and slumber, but must stir up themselves to their business and closely attend it. Watch thou in all things (2 Tim. 4:5), watch against every thing that will be hurtful to the flock, and watch to every thing that will be advantageous to it; improve every opportunity of doing it a kindness.
3. He gives them several good reasons why they should mind the business of their ministry.
(1.) Let them consider the interest of their Master, and his concern for the flock that was committed to their charge, (Acts 20:28). It is the church which he has purchased with his own blood.
[1.] “It is his own; you are but his servants to take care of it for him. It is your honour that you are employed for God, who will own you in his service; but then your carelessness and treachery are so much the worse if you neglect your work, for you wrong God and are false to him. From him you received the trust, and to him you must give up your account, and therefore take heed to yourselves. And, if it be the church of God, he expects you should show your love to him by feeding his sheep and lambs.”
[2.] He has purchased it. The world is God’s by right of creation, but the church is his by right of redemption, and therefore it ought to be dear to us, for it was dear to him, because it cost him dear, and we cannot better show it than by feeding his sheep and his lambs.
[3.] This church of God is what he has purchased; not as Israel of old, when he gave men for them, and people for the life (Isa. 43:3-4), but with his own blood. This proves that Christ is God, for he is called so here, where yet he is said to purchase the church with his own blood; the blood was his as man, yet so close is the union between the divine and human nature that it is here called the blood of God, for it was the blood of him who is God, and his being so put such dignity and worth into it as made it both a valuable ransom of us from evil, and a valuable purchase for us of all good, nay, a purchase of us to Christ, to be to him a peculiar people: Thine they were, and thou gravest them to me. In consideration of this, therefore, feed the church of God, because it is purchased at so dear a rate. Did Christ lay down his life to purchase it, and shall his ministers be wanting in any care and pains to feed it? Their neglect of its true interest is a contempt of his blood that purchased it.
— Matthew Henry (1662 - 1714)
