Three passages of Scripture can each be completely true. But does placing them beside one another mean they are speaking about the same thing?
That question surfaced while I was looking over three Scripture readings selected for a Sunday sermon:
- Ezekiel 33:7–9
- Romans 13:1–10
- Matthew 18:1–20
I assumed there must be an obvious thread connecting them. Perhaps accountability, authority, responsibility, correction, or care for others. After all, when several passages are presented together, we naturally begin looking for the common idea that binds them together.
But the longer I looked, the more difficult that became.
Rather than beginning by searching for similarities, I decided to let each passage remain where Scripture placed it and ask a simpler question: What is each passage talking about?
Ezekiel 33:7–9 is specific. God tells Ezekiel, “I have appointed you a watchman for the house of Israel.” Ezekiel is a prophet. God appointed him. His responsibility was toward the house of Israel. He was to hear the word from God’s mouth and deliver God’s warning faithfully.
Nothing in the passage identifies Ezekiel’s watchman responsibility as an office of the future Church. Nothing says that Christian pastors will inherit the designation. Nothing says that every believer will become a watchman. Those conclusions require us to move beyond what Ezekiel says.
That does not make the passage irrelevant to Christians. We can learn from Ezekiel’s faithfulness and accountability. But learning from an Old Covenant prophet is different from assuming his particular commission has been transferred to the New Covenant Church.
Then we arrive at Romans 13:1–10, and the subject is different.
In verses 1–7, Paul is discussing the Christian’s relationship to governing authorities. He speaks of submission, authority, wrongdoing, conscience, taxes, revenue, respect, and honor. These are instructions concerning how believers live under civil government.
Then, beginning in verse 8, Paul moves toward something greater than civil obligation:
“Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another.”
The remainder of the selected passage concerns love of neighbor. Paul gathers several commandments together beneath “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” and concludes that love does no wrong to a neighbor.
Romans 13:1–10 moves from a Christian’s responsibilities toward governing authorities to the Christian’s continuing obligation to love others.
Where is Ezekiel’s watchman? I cannot find him.
Then we come to Matthew 18:1–20.
Again, the subjects are readily identifiable because Matthew gives us the progression.
Matthew 18:1–9 begins with the disciples asking Jesus, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Jesus responds by placing a child among them and teaching about humility, receiving the little ones, and the seriousness of causing another to stumble.
Matthew 18:10–14 gives us the lost sheep. The shepherd does not disregard the one who has wandered away. The Father’s desire is that one of these little ones not perish.
Matthew 18:15–20 then turns toward restoring a brother who sins. Jesus gives a process intended first to regain the brother: go privately, then take others if necessary, and finally involve the assembly.
Once again I find myself asking: Where is Ezekiel’s watchman?
He is not there. And where is Paul’s civil authority from Romans 13? He is not there either.
That does not mean these passages contradict one another. They do not. It means they are addressing different people, different relationships, different circumstances, and, in Ezekiel’s case, a different covenantal setting.
The problem begins when we assume that proximity creates continuity.
When Similarity Becomes Inference
There is certainly language within the New Testament concerning vigilance, warning, correction, oversight, and responsibility for other believers. But similarity of function does not necessarily establish continuity of office.
The New Testament does tell Christians to be watchful. It tells believers to encourage one another. It instructs them to correct, restore, teach, discern, and care for one another.
But after the resurrection, where does Scripture designate someone as the watchman of the Church?
I cannot find such a designation.
When the New Testament describes those entrusted with care of the congregation, its predominant imagery is not the watchman standing upon the wall.
It is the shepherd caring for the flock.
Jesus identifies Himself as the Good Shepherd in John 10. Paul tells the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:28 that the Holy Spirit made them overseers to shepherd the church of God. Peter instructs elders to shepherd the flock of God and identifies Christ as the Chief Shepherd in 1 Peter 5:1–4. Ephesians 4:11 identifies shepherds/pastors among those given for the equipping of the saints.
There are apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers. There are elders and overseers. There are gifts distributed throughout the body. But where is the New Covenant gift or office of watchman?
That does not mean a shepherd does not watch. Of course he does. A shepherd watches, protects, warns, feeds, guides, and cares for the sheep. But performing an action similar to something an Old Covenant watchman performed does not automatically make the shepherd the successor to Ezekiel’s prophetic commission.
Similarity of function does not establish continuity of office.
Who Watches the Flock?
This raises another interesting question.
If we insist upon using the watchman analogy for the New Covenant Church, who most closely performs that function?
I would be reluctant to create an office Scripture does not create. But if I were to make an inference, the strongest candidate would not be the pastor.
It would be the Holy Spirit.
Jesus said the Spirit would teach, remind His disciples of His words, testify concerning Christ, convict concerning sin, guide into truth, and disclose what He receives (John 14–16).
In Acts, the Holy Spirit directs the Church, sets people apart for ministry, sometimes prevents particular courses of action, and—significantly—Acts 20:28 says that the Holy Spirit made the elders overseers.
The overseers therefore do not stand independently above the flock as God’s replacement watchmen. They themselves operate under the direction of God. And above them remains Christ, the Head of the Church and the Chief Shepherd. That gives us a New Covenant picture without importing an office from somewhere else:
Christ is the Chief Shepherd. The Holy Spirit guides and directs. Overseers shepherd. The flock lives together as members of one body, each exercising the gifts God has given.
Perhaps They Do Not Need to Fit
This brings us back to the original three passages.
Perhaps our difficulty in making Ezekiel 33:7–9, Romans 13:1–10, and Matthew 18:1–20 fit seamlessly together tells us something important.
Maybe they were never intended to fit seamlessly together.
Ezekiel tells us about God’s commission to a prophet who served as watchman over Israel.
Romans tells believers how to conduct themselves toward governing authorities and ultimately toward their neighbors in love.
Matthew records Jesus teaching His disciples about greatness, humility, stumbling, the wandering sheep, and restoration of a brother.
Each passage has something important to teach. But we should be careful about creating a fourth message by combining the three.
A biblical text can be true. Another biblical text can be true. A third biblical text can be true. Yet the conclusion we produce by connecting them can still be an inference that none of those passages actually states.
That does not mean we should never connect Scripture. Scripture continually echoes Scripture. Patterns appear from Genesis through Revelation. Later writers deliberately draw upon earlier passages. Jesus Himself repeatedly reaches backward into the Scriptures.
The question is whether Scripture makes the connection—or whether we do.
There is nothing wrong with asking whether three passages illuminate one another. That is part of investigation. The danger comes when we stop recognizing where the text ends and our inference begins. Perhaps that is the lesson hiding beneath these three readings.
Before we ask how several passages work together, we should first allow each one to speak for itself. Then, if a connection exists, follow it. And if it does not, perhaps we should resist the temptation to build one.
Patterns disclose; they do not impose.