John Calvin Commentary Acts 20:28

"Take heed unto yourselves, and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit hath made you bishops, to feed the church of the Lord which he purchased with his own blood." — Acts 20:28 (ASV)

Take heed, therefore. He now applies his speech to them and by many reasons shows that they must watch diligently, and that his great care is because necessity requires it. He gives these reasons:

1. They are bound to the flock over which they are set.
2. They were called to this function not by mortal man, but by the Holy Spirit.
3. It is no small honor to govern the Church of God.
4. The Lord declared by an evident testimony what account he makes of the Church, seeing that he has redeemed it with his blood.

Concerning the first point, he not only commands them to take heed to the flock, but first to themselves. For a man who neglects his own salvation will never be careful for the salvation of others. And that man will in vain urge others to live godly, who himself shows no desire for godliness.

Indeed, that man who forgets himself will not take pains with his flock, since he is a part of the flock. Therefore, so that they may be careful for the flock committed to them, Paul commands and warns that every one of them keep himself in the fear of God.

For by this means it would come to pass that everyone would be as faithful towards his flock as he ought to be. For we said that Paul reasons from their calling that they are bound to take pains in the Church of God, of which they have the government. It is as if he were to say that they may not do whatever they like best, nor are they free after they are made pastors, but they are bound publicly to all the flock.

The Holy Spirit has made you overseers. By this very word he reminds them that they are placed, as it were, in a watchtower, so that they may watch for the common safety of all men. But Paul emphasizes this principally: that they were not appointed by men, but the charge of the Church was committed to them by God.

For this reason they must be more diligent and careful, because they must give a strict account before that high seat of judgment. For the more excellent the dignity of that Lord and Master whom we serve is, the more reverence we naturally give him, and that reverence itself sharpens our study and diligence.

Moreover, though the Lord would have ministers of the word chosen from the beginning by the voices [suffrages] of men, yet he always claims the government of the Church for himself, not only so that we may acknowledge him to be its only governor, but also know that the incomparable treasure of salvation comes from him alone.

For he is robbed of his glory if we think that the gospel is brought to us either by chance, or by the will of men, or by their industry. But Paul attributes this peculiarly to the Spirit, by whom God governs his Church, and who is to everyone a secret witness of his calling in his own conscience.

Concerning the word overseer or bishop, we must briefly note this: that Paul calls all the elders of Ephesus by this name, every one of them. From this we gather that according to the usage of Scripture, bishops differ in no way from elders. But it came to pass through vice and corruption that those who were chief in every city began to be called bishops.

I call it corruption, not because it is evil that one man should be chief in every college or company, but because this boldness is intolerable, when men, by twisting the names of Scripture to fit their custom, do not hesitate to change the language of the Holy Spirit.

To govern the Church. The Greek word ποιμαινειν signifies to feed. But by a fitting analogy it is applied to every kind of government. And we have said that this is the third argument drawn from the excellence of the function; as the same Paul tells Timothy elsewhere, that he take heed and see how he ought to behave himself in the house of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of truth.

It is as if he would say, that there is no time to be idle in such a weighty calling, and that those whom God has made stewards of his family are less excusable, the higher their degree of honor, unless they correspond to so great a dignity—that is, unless they do their duty diligently.

Now, if bishops or overseers are made by the Holy Spirit so that they may feed the Church, the papal hierarchy is ridiculous, in which bishops, being proud of their (painted sheath and) vain title, do not even once concern themselves with the function of teaching, no, not even for appearance's sake.

Which he has purchased. This is the fourth reason by which Paul carefully urges the pastors to do their duty diligently: because the Lord has given no small pledge of his love toward the Church by shedding his own blood for it. By this it appears how precious it is to him; and surely there is nothing that ought more vehemently to urge pastors to do their duty joyfully than for them to consider that the price of the blood of Christ is committed to them.

For from this it follows that unless they take pains in the Church, lost souls are not only imputed to them, but they are also guilty of sacrilege, because they have profaned the holy blood of the Son of God and have made the redemption obtained by him to be of no effect, as much as lies in their power.

And this is a most grievous offense if, through our sluggishness, the death of Christ not only becomes vile or base, but its fruit is also abolished and perishes. And it is said that God has purchased the Church so that we may know that he would have it remain wholly for himself, because it is fitting and right that he possess those whom he has redeemed.

Nevertheless, we must also remember that all mankind are the bond-slaves of Satan until Christ sets us free from his tyranny, gathering us into the inheritance of his Father.

But because the language Paul uses seems to be somewhat difficult, we must see in what sense he says that God purchased the Church with his blood. For nothing is more absurd than to feign or imagine God to be mortal or to have a body. But in this statement he commends the unity of person in Christ; for because there are distinct natures in Christ, Scripture sometimes states separately what is proper to each one.

But when it sets God before us made manifest in the flesh, it does not separate the human nature from the Godhead. Nevertheless, because the two natures are so united in Christ that they make one person, that which truly and indeed belongs to one nature is sometimes improperly attributed to the other.

This is the case here, where Paul attributes blood to God, because the man Jesus Christ, who shed his blood for us, was also God.

This manner of speaking is called by the old writers communicatio idiomatum, because the property of one nature is applied to the other. And I said that by this means the one person of Christ is manifestly expressed, lest we imagine him to be double, which Nestorius attempted in times past.

And yet, for all this, we must not imagine a confusion of the two natures, which Eutyches endeavored to introduce, or which the Spanish dog, Servetus, has invented in our time. Servetus makes the Godhead of Christ nothing else but a form or image of the human nature, which he dreams has always shone in God.