3rd Missionary Trip - Lorin

taught.
It is in this light that he comes back to the past and the present with his declaration: 26 διότι μαρτύρομαι
ὑμῖν ἐν τῇ σήμερον ἡμέρᾳ ὅτι καθαρός εἰμι ἀπὸ τοῦ αἵματος πάντων· 27 οὐ γὰρ ὑπεστειλάμην τοῦ μὴ ἀναγγεῖλαι
πᾶσαν τὴν βουλὴν τοῦ θεοῦ ὑμῖν, 26 Therefore I declare to you this day that I am not responsible for the blood of any of
you, 27 for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God. Although this sounds defensive, in this context
it functions differently. 245 In the tradition of Ezekiel (cf. Ezek 33:1-6), Paul reminds the Ephesians that the witness
has the accountibility before God of faithfully giving a testimony to the truth of God. It is the hearers responsibility
before God to take that message and act on it appropriately. Paul had done this himself throughout his
ministry among the Ephesians. Now they must act appropriately to the message. This is the divine requirement.
One point especially stressed by the apostle is that he did not pull back from declaring the complete message
of God: ὑπεστειλάμην τοῦ μὴ ἀναγγεῖλαι πᾶσαν τὴν βουλὴν τοῦ θεοῦ ὑμῖν. The βουλὴν τοῦ θεοῦ encompasses
every aspect of God’s intention with all of its implications for life and living. Paul as a model to these Ephesian
leaders now challenges them to follow that same example so that their conscience will be just as clean as his
when standing before Almighty God in judgment.
This is Paul speaking out of impeccable integrity, much in the same way as he employed the very Greek
concept of conscience (συνείδησις) in his writings: Rom. 9:1; 13:5; 1 Cor. 8:7, 10, 12; 10:25, 27-29; 2 Cor. 1:12;
4:2; 1 Tim. 1:5, 19; 3:9; 4:2; 2 Tim. 1:3; Tit. 1:15. What a challenge for each of us!
Speech: Warning of Coming Dangers, vv. 28-31.
28 Keep watch over yourselves and over all the flock, of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd
the church of Godd that he obtained with the blood of his own Son. 29 I know that after I have gone, savage
wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 Some even from your own group will come distorting the
truth in order to entice the disciples to follow them. 31 Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not
cease night or day to warn everyone with tears.
28 προσέχετε ἑαυτοῖς καὶ παντὶ τῷ ποιμνίῳ, ἐν ᾧ ὑμᾶς τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον ἔθετο ἐπισκόπους ποιμαίνειν τὴν
ἐκκλησίαν τοῦ θεοῦ, ἣν περιεποιήσατο διὰ τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ ἰδίου. 29 ἐγὼ οἶδα ὅτι εἰσελεύσονται μετὰ τὴν ἄφιξίν
μου λύκοι βαρεῖς εἰς ὑμᾶς μὴ φειδόμενοι τοῦ ποιμνίου, 30 καὶ ἐξ ὑμῶν αὐτῶν ἀναστήσονται ἄνδρες λαλοῦντες
διεστραμμένα τοῦ ἀποσπᾶν τοὺς μαθητὰς ὀπίσω αὐτῶν. 31 διὸ γρηγορεῖτε μνημονεύοντες ὅτι τριετίαν νύκτα καὶ
ἡμέραν οὐκ ἐπαυσάμην μετὰ δακρύων νουθετῶν ἕνα ἕκαστον.
It is no accident that the high point of his speech now comes with verse 28 in the form of a strong admonition
to these leaders.
Page 466
246 The core admonition is simply προσέχετε ἑαυτοῖς καὶ παντὶ τῷ ποιμνίῳ, keep watch over
yourselves and over all the flock. In the imagery of Jesus as the Good Shepherd (John 10:1-18), Paul urges these
leaders to be good shepherds over God’s flock in Ephesus. The idea of προσέχετε is simply to focus attention
toward the specified object in order to make certain that nothing contaminating or damaging impacts it. The twin
objects specified here of self and the church clearly stress close attention must be paid to one’s own spiritual life
and then to the life of the people whom God has granted you responsibility for in ministry. The language of the
shepherd and his flock is not a Pauline image but does surface elsewhere in early Christian tradition. It comes
directly out of King David’s experience in ancient Israel. 247 The shepherd must take care of himself and also of
245 “He concluded this portion of the speech with the statement that he was innocent of the blood of all because he had proclaimed
the full will of God (v. 26f.). Here he seems to draw from the ‘watchman’ analogy of Ezek 33:1–6. 82 The watchman fulfills his
task when he blows the warning trumpet in the face of danger. Once he has sounded his warning, he is no longer responsible for the lives
of those he is appointed to warn. Paul had preached the full gospel, the whole will of God. He had called people to repentance. Now the
responsibility rested with them. Again this remark is not to be seen so much as Paul’s defense of himself as an example to the Ephesian
leaders. They were to do what Paul had done before them, herald the gospel and call to repentance. This is the task of a Christian witness,
to proclaim the full will of God. Witnesses can do no more. The response is not theirs but the hearer’s responsibility.” [John B. Polhill,
vol. 26, Acts, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995), 426.]
246 “This verse is both the practical and the theological centre of the speech; the practical centre, because Paul’s primary intention
is to urge the Ephesian elders to do their duty effectively — or rather, Luke’s primary intention is to convey the same exhortation
to his contemporaries, and the theological centre, because here only in Acts is there an attempt to state the significance of the death of
Christ and at the same time to bring out the ground of the church’s ministry in the work of the Holy Spirit.” [C. K. Barrett, A Critical and
Exegetical Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles, International Critical Commentary (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 2004), 974.]
247 “The language of shepherding is — perhaps surprisingly — not Pauline, but later the image became common; see Jn 21:15–
17 (cf. 10:11, etc.); 1 Pet. 2:25; 5:2–4; Eph. 4:11; Heb. 13:20: Jude 12. It rests upon familiar OT passages; e.g. the story of David; Ps.
23; Jer. 3:15; 23:1–4; Ezek. 34:1–24; but it is also used of rulers and leaders in the non-biblical world. See St John 373f. The shepherd
directs his sheep, knowing where they ought to go in their own interests, and also protects them, against wild beasts and robbers. The
Christian shepherd is one who is able to guide and also to protect against the agencies that mislead and endanger Christians.” [C. K.
Barrett, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles, International Critical Commentary (Edinburgh: T&T Clark,