“Therefore, to the older men [presbyters, elders] among you I give this exhortation, for I too am an older man with them and a witness of the sufferings of the Christ, a sharer even of the glory that is to be revealed:

2. Why must those addressed here by Peter have been officially “older men,” and with how many “older men” did the Jerusalem congregation start out on Pentecost of 33 C.E.?

² The apostle Peter classes himself as an “older man” with the “older men” whom he addresses. So, if Peter was an “older man” in an official sense, those whom he addresses were also officially “older men.” Certainly an apostle of Jesus Christ should be officially an “older man.” Consequently, when the Christian congregation started out on Pentecost day of 33 C.E., it had twelve official “older men,” namely, the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ. (Acts 1:13 to 2:37) Those apostles were all like Peter in being each “a witness of the sufferings of the Christ,” because they had been associated together from the time of Jesus’ baptism until his ascension to heaven. (Acts 1:21, 22; 1 Pet. 5:1)