If "eldership" was inhereted from the Jewish custom, then Christ's words in Matthew 15 could shed some light on the normative/descriptive nature of eldership:
1 Then some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus (B)from Jerusalem and said,
2"Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they (C)do not wash their hands when they eat bread."
3And He answered and said to them, "Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?
...
12Then the disciples came and said to Him, "Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this statement?"
13But He answered and said, "Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted.
14"Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit."
Thus, I would say that if the "eldership" does not have an independant NT prescriptive foundation (as opposed to being an inhereted OT prescription), then it got abolished with Christ (at least as a prescription).
Except, I'm not sure how then to reconcile Matthew 23:1-3:
1Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples,
2saying: "(B)The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses;
3therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them.
The bolded sentence is odd and I'm not sure how to comport it with the rest of Matthew 23 (or Matthew 15):
8"But do not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers.
9"Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.
10"Do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader, that is, Christ.
I think these passages should be at the forefront of our minds in any interpretation of potential "offices" in the church.
Peter
P.S. YP: I haven't the first clue - regardless of the descriptive/prescritive nature of eldership - why their appointment would fall to the apostles if the practice was derived from Jewish tradition. I don't know if there is an analogue
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I Have Finished My Course
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