Overseer of Souls

For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
1 Peter 2:25

 Hearing the word “overseer” brings to mind images of a white guy with a whip sitting on a horse scrutinizing black slaves as they pick cotton or perhaps it’s a line boss supervising hundreds of factory workers to make sure they stay on task. In any case, it doesn’t seem like a fitting name of Christ.

This title in the Old King James Version is rendered, “Bishop of your souls,” which also has its own drawbacks. Here, the stereotype is of a cleric in fancy robes that has the control of church leaders. Again, the image is off the mark.

The original Greek word sounds a bit like “bishop” so the translators of the KJV transliterated it to be that. The actual translation is “one who watches over” and is associated with the job of a shepherd. Now, the title makes sense. Jesus is the One who is looking out for the believers; He is the Overseer of Souls.

The Greek word is sometimes translated overseer and sometimes bishop a total of eight times in the NKJV, but only once referring to Christ. The other seven instances are regarding elders in the church. If church leaders care for and shepherd the flock of God, then in the same way the Chief Shepherd watches over the progress and welfare of the church.

Before David became King of Israel, he felt abandoned and alone while hiding in a cave. He cried out to God in Psalm 142:4 saying, “Look on my right hand and see, For there is no one who acknowledges me; Refuge has failed me; No one cares for my soul.” But David never knew Jesus, the Overseer of Souls.