Shepherds/Pastors are Christ's Gift to the Church

I am still studying Ephesians 4. One thing that struck me about the following passage is our pastors are a gift to the church.

Therefore it says,
“When he ascended on high he led a host of captives,
and he gave gifts to men.”

(In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, (Ephesians 4:8-12, ESV)

Here's a couple of observations. O'Brien in his commentary writes about the phrase he might fill all things.

He [Christ] fills the universe through the exercise of his lordship over everything. This entails his functioning as the powerful ruler over the principalities (Ephesians 1:21), and giving grace and strength to his people (4:13, 15-16), through whom he fulfils his purposes.

Christ manifests his wisdom and authority to all the principalities in heaven and on earth through helping the church grow into maturity. Christ does this by giving us the gift of gifted ministers: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastor and teachers. Christ specifically chose and gifted men to minister to us so that we as a body can grow into maturity in Him. These ministers are ministers of the Word. They are not here to make us feel better or entertain us, but to explain "the faith" to us. They are to help us to understand the gospel in its entirety and help us to apply it to our lives. Have you thanked your elders/pastors/shepherds today? Have you prayed for your leaders to today? Have you thanked Christ for his gift of your leaders today?