Caiaphas
Matthew 26:1-5, 57-68
Joseph surnamed Caiaphas which in Greek means “searcher” is only mentioned four times in the New Testament: at the raising of Lazarus in John chapter 11, at the trial of Jesus in Matthew 26 and John 18 and at the trial of Peter and John in Acts chapter 4. And yet, he played a crucial role in the plot to crucify Jesus. He was present throughout Jesus’ trial, beating, and crucifixion. But who was Caiaphas? Caiaphas was born of the tribe of Levi whom God had set apart to be the priests and religious leaders of Israel. He married into one of the most influential families of his day, the High Priest Annas who served as High Priest from 6-15 AD. But the Romans had become disenchanted with him so from that time on, the Romans made sure that they had total control over the all the affairs of Judea, reserving the right to appoint the high priest of their choice, someone thy could “work” with or control.
The three High Priests before Caiaphas were short-lived and quickly removed from office. Caiaphas served as High Priest for 18 years. Although Caiaphas was the official High Priest, most Biblical scholars believe that Annas continued to be the power behind the throne. We see this in John 18:13 where it says, “And they led Him away to Annas first, for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas who was high priest that year." And Luke 3 says, “while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests,…” Thus, even though he was out of office, Annas played a major role in the religious affairs of Israel and in Jesus' trial, an indication he may have advised or even controlled Caiaphas. He was so influencial after he was removed that he was able to obtain poistions for five of his sons at the temple.
The High Priest served as the Jew's representative to God. He led the people in worship and performed religious rituals in strict obedience to the Mosaic law. Once a year the High Priest would enter the Holy of Holies, the most sacred of places where God’s throne the Ark of the Covenant resided, and he would offer sacrifices to Yahweh. The High Priest was also in charge of the temple treasury, controlled the temple police and lower ranking priests and attendants, and served as president of the Sanhedrin.
The ancient Jewish court system was called the Sanhedrin. They were the supreme religious court in Israel during the time of Jesus. 71 rabbis were a part of the Sanhedrin and met daily in the Chamber of Hewn Stones in the Temple. According to law, they only met during the daytime, and did not meet on the Sabbath, festival eves or during religious festivals. It was the final authority on Jewish law and any scholar who went against its decisions was put to death. The Sanhedrin judged accused lawbreakers, but could not initiate arrests. In about 30 C.E., the Sanhedrin lost its authority to inflict capital punishment. Only the Romans had that power, hence why Caiaphas had to go to Pilate about Jesus’ punishement. All decisions had to be by majority of at least two votes. Cases that were the most difficult or the most critical for the Jewish people were decided by the Sanhedrin. Hence why Jesus was brought before the Sanhedrin.
The Sanhedrin was made up of rabbis from the two main religious parties: The Pharisees and the Sadducees. They were in open opposition to each other in both beliefs and practices. The Sadduccees were drawn from the wealthy, educated elite of the day while the Pharisees were composed of the common working class people. Caiaphas was a Sadducee. Sadducees denied the oral (spoken) law that the Pharisees openly taught. For them the first five books of the Bible was the divine authority. They did not believe in the resurrection or the existence of spirits and angels. In short, hand they did not believe in the supernatural.
The high priest had another, more controversial function in first-century Jerusalem: He served as a liaison between the Romans and the Jewish population. Rome decided it was beneficial to allow the people they conquered to continue to worship their gods(s). But this was a right they could always revoke. So Rome looked to the High Priest and the Sanhedrin to keep the Jewish population in line. Although little is known of Caiaphas’ 18 year tenure, the length suggests that he must have worked well with Roman authority. Many scholars believe that Caiaphas had a close working relationship with Pontius Pilate. Regardless, Caiaphas was shrewd and adaptable enough to appease the Romans while still protecting the religious freedom of Israel. High Priests were both respected and despised by the Jewish population. They were seen as playing a critical role in the religious life of the nation. At the same time, many Jews resented the close relationship they maintained with Roman authorities, suspecting them of being influenced, taking bribes or practicing other forms of corruption.
So what can we learn from Caiaphas and his role in the ministry and crucifixion of Jesus? First, we often resist God’s new initiative. For Caiaphas, the challenge was that in Jesus, God was doing a new thing to call His children back to faith and offer them salvation from their sins. The problem was that for 1500 years, God had worked through the Torah, the Temple and burnt offerings or sacrifices to deal with sin. But now he sent his only son to die on the cross for the sins of the world, the ultimate sacrifice. Caiaphas would have been extremely devout, keeping the law, studying the Torah and dedicating his life to God. On top of this, Israel had been looking forward to, praying about and anticipating the coming Messiah. But despite all of this, when Jesus did come, most of the Jews and the Sanhedrin didn’t see it and couldn’t accept Jesus for who he said he was, despite all of the miracles, the teachings and even his resurrection. Why? Because God had never done that before.
It’s been said that the last seven words of the church are, “We’ve never done it that way before.” The fact is we are creatures of habit. Habits bring a sense of comfort, normalcy and control in our lives, especially in a world where everything seems to be changing around us at breakneck speed. And so we in the church want something in our lives which is stable and familiar. The result is we keep doing church and being the church in the same way we have for the last 10, 20, 30, 40 or even 50 years. Bill Easum puts it this way, “Many dying churches are trying to recreate 1955.” And the fact is, we can’t. The world has moved on. What worked yesterday and reached people doesn’t anymore. But what happens? We keep doing things a the same way whether that be worship, ministry or an outreach event which now in a radically different ministry landscape has dwindling results or impact on lives. The problem is we confuse “the means” with “the message.” The message of God, the Good News, is unchanging but the means by which that message is communicated and shared in mission must be cultural and contextual. When we keep doing things the same old way, we begin to handcuff God, thinking that he will continue to bless what we’ve always done or that God cannot or won’t do a new thing. Caiaphas missed out on the Savior and God’s great redeeming work in Jesus because he resisted God’s new initiative. Is there anything more tragic? We need to make sure that we are doing the same thing in our life and our church today but rather are always be open to God doing new things in the world around us. And instead of fighting it, we join in God’s new work.
Second, we protect our own turf and try to preserve our power. The High Priest was the most influential person in the life of Israel. The Sanhedrin made all of the legal and religious decisions of Israel afforded them by Rome. The people listened to them. They had done so for 100’s of years. So when the Sanhedrin become aware of Jesus, they say: "Here is this man performing many miraculous signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation." (John 11:47-48) They’re scared. And they have good reason to be. There were growing crowds following Jesus. His growing popularity and influence was a threat to their own. The problem is that they are looking at the situation as an “us” versus “them” rather than seeing God’s new work and accepting Jesus’ invitation to follow Him and participate in what God was doing anew.
Third, our beliefs are challenged. Not only was Jesus perceived to be a threat to Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin politically. He was also a challenge them theologically. When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, those who were there went back and reported to Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin. It challenged the Sadducee long held belief in no resurrection. But Now they had living proof of resurrection and they still couldn’t accept it!
Jesus challenges our false narratives or beliefs about God as well. James Bryan Smith writes, “we are creatures who live by our stories (or what James Bryan Smith calls narratives)….(which) help us interpret how life is or how life ought to be. …There are all kinds of narratives. Family narratives…cultural narratives….religious narratives….(and then) there are Jesus’ narratives…(which) reveal the character of God. We are shaped by our stories. In fact, our stories, once in place determine much of our behavior without regard to their accuracy or helpfulness. Once these stories are stored in our minds, they stay there largely unchallenged until we die. And here is the point, these narratives are running and often ruining our lives.” But then we are confronted with Jesus’ stories which challenge our narratives and our beliefs, sometimes rocking the foundation of long held beliefs as it did Caiaphas. James Bryan Smith goes on to identify false narratives in the church today like:
"I can change by my own willpower"
"Believing in Jesus will make my life easier"
“I am in control of my own life”
“My value is determined by the world or others”
"I have to earn God’s love, forgiveness and blessings”
“God punishes me when I'm bad"
“I don’t have to share my faith”
“As a Christian, I don’t have to be different from the world”
And finally, “The church is meant to serve my needs”
What narratives or beliefs is Jesus trying to challenge and change in you? That change starts first in our minds. When Jesus preaches, “Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand” he uses the Greek word for repent ‘metanoia’ which means to change our mind. The Apostle Paul said the same thing, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds....” Instead of living by our false narratives, we are called to “set our minds on the things above.” Colossians 3:2 But most of all, we are called to have the mind of Jesus, “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 2:5 Letting our narratives be challenged and adopting the narrative of Jesus is the way we have the mind of Christ and the understanding of Christ about God. There are three other keys to changing our narratives: immersing ourselves in Scripture and Jesus’ stories of God, participating in the community of faith and realize that transformation happens there and third, allow the Spirit to work in us correcting us, challenging us and coming alongside us as sometimes our foundational beliefs are challenged.
When we feel threatened because God is doing a new thing outside our comfort zone, our position, power and influence is challenged and our narratives are challenged, we can either embrace it and lean into the heartbeat of God or feel threatened and seek to hold onto what currently is. Caiaphas chose the latter and put Jesus on trial, disregarding the laws governing such things and eventually coming to a false verdict. Jesus was tried at night but the law said the Sanhedrin could only meet during the daytime. The law forbade the Sanhedrin to meet on the eve of the Sabbath or a festival. Two witnesses must agree against the accused or the case must be thrown out, the witnesses testifying against Jesus could not agree! No man could be convicted by his own testimony yet Jesus was! By Jewish law; the convicted could not be given a sentence involving capitol cases on the same day as the trial, but Jesus was sentenced the same day!
Because of Caiaphas’ fear and feeling threatened, not only was an innocent man crucified, but the Son of God. God had given Caiaphas reason upon reason to believe that Jesus was the promised Messiah and yet, he was blinded by his own selfishness and close-mindedness to who God is and how God can work. Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin were given a golden opportunity to work in concert with God but instead chose a different path. You know the old saying, “The Road to hell is paved with good intentions.” I am sure Caiaphas though he was doing the right thing protecting his authority and oversight of the religious freedom afforded Israel by Rome. But then so did Saul though he was doing the right thing killing Christians to protect the Jewish faith. Both men were learned, passionate, deeply committed to their faith and both were dead wrong leading their actions to actually oppose the saving work of God.
How are you accepting the new work that God is doing in the world? Are you willing to give up the way things were and how they were done? And finally, how is God challenging your narratives and beliefs? God is doing something new in your midst! You can either work with God or you can work against him. The choice is yours.
