Elder, overseer or bishop? Paul at Miletus

Acts 20 belongs to the third missionary journey of Paul, which ended with his arrest in Jerusalem. The journey in the chapter probably took place in the spring of AD 57. Luke, who joins the party at Philippi (the 'we' of 20:5), wrote Acts as the second volume of his work for Theophilus; the traditional date is the early 60s and many critical scholars place it in the 80s. Paul had spent about three years in Ephesus (20:31; Acts 19), the longest stay of his career, and had founded a church there whose leaders now meet him.

He was returning to Jerusalem with representatives of several churches (20:4), probably carrying the collection for the poor there (Romans 15:25-26; 1 Corinthians 16:1-4). He had planned to reach the city by Pentecost (20:16) and so sailed past Ephesus and sent for the leaders to come to Miletus, an old harbor town to the south.

It is the only speech in Acts in which Paul addresses the leaders of a church. It is a farewell and a charge, with a defense of his ministry, a warning of danger and a commitment of the flock to God. It is also one of the key texts in the argument over the church's offices, because it uses three of the New Testament's words for leaders within a few verses.

Acts is historical narrative, and the speeches in it are Luke's summary of what was said, given by a man who was present for this one (the 'we' of 20:5-15). Narrative describes, and a reader must be careful to distinguish what is stated from what is inferred. Luke states that Paul called the Ephesian 'elders' and addressed them as 'overseers.' He does not state how many there were, whether one led, or what authority they had over other churches. Everything beyond the naming of the three roles must be drawn from other passages.

This class has a second task. The offices of the church were later arranged in ways that Acts 20 does not describe, and Christians disagree about whether those arrangements are right. The class reads the New Testament first, as the first hearers would, and then sets the later development out as history and as argument. Church fathers, councils and theologians are named as witnesses to what people believed and why. They are not treated as authority. Scripture is confirmed by Scripture, and each side in the debate claims that Scripture supports it.

The farewell is arranged in four parts: the past (20:18-21), the present (20:22-27), the future (20:28-31) and the commitment (20:32-35). The offices are one thread in a speech whose center is the gospel and the word of grace.

Verses 1–6

After the riot in Ephesus, Paul encouraged the disciples, went to Macedonia and Greece and stayed three months. A Jewish plot led him to return through Macedonia. His company of seven men came from different regions, which suggests they represented several churches. The 'we' returns in 20:5, so Luke joined at Philippi.

Verses 7–12

At Troas the believers 'came together to break bread' on the first day of the week, an early Sunday gathering (compare 1 Corinthians 16:2). Paul talked until midnight, and Eutychus, sitting in a window, fell from the third story and 'was picked up dead.' Paul threw himself on him and said, 'He is still alive!' The gathering resumed and Paul spoke until daybreak. The restoration echoes Elijah and Elisha (1 Kings 17:21; 2 Kings 4:34).

Verses 13–16

Paul went on foot to Assos while the others sailed, and chose to sail past Ephesus 'because he was in a hurry to reach Jerusalem, if possible, by the day of Pentecost.'

Verse 17

'From Miletus, Paul sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church.' The word is presbyteroi, plural, and 'church' is singular. There was one church at Ephesus with several elders. Paul speaks of 'the whole will of God' (20:27) that he had declared to them.

Verses 18–27

Paul recalls his service 'with great humility and with tears,' teaching 'publicly and from house to house,' and testifying 'to Jews and Greeks alike about repentance to God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.' He is going to Jerusalem 'compelled by the Spirit,' warned of chains, and they will not see his face again. He is 'innocent of the blood of all men,' because he has declared the whole will of God. The image is that of the watchman who must warn (Ezekiel 3:17-21; 33:1-9).

Verse 28

'Keep watch over yourselves and the entire flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which He purchased with His own blood.' The elders of verse 17 are here called overseers (episkopoi). The verb 'shepherd' is poimaino. The Spirit is the one who 'made' them overseers. They are to watch themselves first, then the flock. The last clause is textually and grammatically difficult. Some manuscripts read 'church of the Lord' instead of 'church of God,' and 'his own blood' could be read as 'the blood of his own,' that is, of his own Son. Either way the church was acquired at the cost of a death.

Verses 29–31

Savage wolves will come in after Paul leaves, and some will rise 'from your own number' to distort the truth and draw disciples after them. The danger is from outside and from inside. Paul reminds them that for three years he never stopped warning each one 'night and day with tears.'

Verses 32–35

Paul commits them 'to God and to the word of His grace, which can build you up.' He names no successor. He coveted no one's silver or gold and worked with his own hands for himself and his companions. He cites a saying of Jesus not found in the Gospels: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.' His example sits beside the teaching that those who preach may be supported (1 Corinthians 9:14; 1 Timothy 5:17-18), a right he chose not to use (1 Corinthians 9:15-18).

Verses 36–38

Paul kneels and prays with them. They weep, embrace and kiss him, grieved most that they will not see him again, and go with him to the ship.

Acts 20 is one of the passages that use the three terms for the same men. Elder (presbyteros) comes from the vocabulary of Israel's communities and synagogues and stresses age and standing. Overseer (episkopos) was a supervisor's title in the Greek world and is used of officers and supervisors in the Greek Old Testament; it stresses function. Shepherd (poimaino) comes from the Old Testament picture of God and the leaders of his people (Psalm 23; Jeremiah 23:1-4; Ezekiel 34). Acts 20:17, 28 uses all three for the Ephesian leaders. Titus 1:5-7 moves from elders to the overseer in one argument, Philippians 1:1 greets overseers and deacons in the plural, 1 Peter 5:1-2 tells elders to shepherd, and 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and 5:17-19 give the qualifications and support.

This pattern is explicit. Elders were plural in each local church, appointed with prayer (Acts 14:23), made overseers by the Spirit (20:28), required to teach (Titus 1:9; 1 Timothy 3:2), allowed support (1 Timothy 5:17-18), open to accusation before two or three witnesses (5:19) and warned against lording it over the flock (1 Peter 5:3). Apostles and their delegates appointed them. The New Testament does not state that every city was to have a single bishop over a group of elders, and it does not use the title 'bishop' for Timothy, Titus or James.

The canon does present a succession, but of teaching and ministry. Moses laid hands on Joshua (Numbers 27:18-23), Matthias took the place of Judas (Acts 1:20-26, using the noun episkope of Judas's office), and Paul told Timothy to entrust what he had heard to faithful men who would teach others (2 Timothy 2:2). Whether this is a succession of an office handed on from person to person or of the apostolic teaching handed on is exactly the point at issue in the tradition note.

Verse 28 is the center of the speech. The church is 'of God, which He purchased with His own blood.' The blood is the blood of Christ, and the purchase is the cross. The church is not the elders' flock or Paul's. It belongs to God because it was bought at a price (compare 1 Corinthians 6:20; 1 Peter 1:18-19). The leaders tend what has cost a death.

The titles in the speech are first Christ's. The Old Testament promised that God himself would shepherd his flock (Ezekiel 34:11-16) and set one shepherd over it (34:23), and Jesus said, 'I am the good shepherd' (John 10:11). Peter calls him the Chief Shepherd (1 Peter 5:4) and the Shepherd and Overseer of souls (2:25). Hebrews 13:20 calls him the great Shepherd of the sheep. The elders are under-shepherds and overseers who act under him. The wolves Paul warns of recall Jesus' own warning of wolves in sheep's clothing and the hired hand who flees when the wolf comes (Matthew 7:15; John 10:12).

Paul's resolve to go to Jerusalem, warned of suffering, echoes Jesus setting his face toward Jerusalem (Luke 9:51). The raising of Eutychus echoes Jesus' raising of Jairus's daughter (Mark 5:39-42), and the Old Testament raisings by Elijah and Elisha (1 Kings 17:21; 2 Kings 4:34) are echoes of the same pattern of life given by God's servant. The saying of Jesus Paul cites, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive,' sums up the Lord who gave himself (Mark 10:45).