Caiaphas
Drama
From My Point Of View
Ten Dialogues On The Passion
Narrator: If one person was more responsible for Jesus' death than any other, it would have to be Caiaphas. Caiaphas, the High Priest, was a man of far-reaching influence and power. He held rule over the chief priests, the elders, the scribes, and the business community. They were called Sadducees. They were the elite of the elite making up the majority of the top governing body, the Sanhedrin. While they were greatly outnumbered by the peasants, they were the ones who held all the power. Caiaphas stood at the top of this power pyramid.
He came to his post through the manipulation of his wealthy father-in-law, the former high priest, Annas, in 18 A.D. The high priest was appointed from Rome and Annas, who had loaned great amounts of money to certain Romans, was in a position to influence the selections.
Don't mistake Annas' intervention as Caiaphas' weakness. Caiaphas leaned on no one. He was a cunning man of great perception, possessing a seemingly inexhaustible supply of self- strength.
Caiaphas: I recall that it was the twelfth year of my being High Priest that word came to my office of some fiery preacher, dressed in sackcloth and ashes of all things, who was calling people to repentance. Furthermore he was claiming to be the forerunner of another who would be the Lord. Where do these people come from?
On the heels of this news came word that one Jesus, a carpenter's son out of Nazareth -- and doesn't that figure? -- was stirring up considerable interest among the people. I told my party members, "We've seen these passionate peasants before. Let's give them a little more rope and they'll likely hang themselves."
Later reports indicated that these men weren't hanging themselves, and the man Jesus was making real inroads into the lives of people. So I enlisted some of the scribes and Pharisees, explaining to them that the best way to apprehend him was to attend his gatherings and trip him up -- expose him -- by asking trick questions. Well, they did, but their traps never caught him. In fact they often came off second best in this battle of wits, and the numbers attending his teaching kept growing. He was a wily one.
So I had my people intensify their watching. We kept waiting for him to make some slip, to be caught in a petty infraction of the law, that we might discredit him. Several abortive attempts were made to arrest him. Yet his influence grew. Can't the people see through these self-appointed authorities?
Narrator: Caiaphas began to counsel regularly with the chief priests as to what they could do to end this man's disturbing, upsetting ministry. Caiaphas and others of the elite Sadducees had much to lose. Please understand that if there was some kind of religious upheaval in Israel, the Romans, who had lost both lives and money in earlier clashes, would strip the high priest and the Sadducees of their power. Caiaphas' great wealth and power depended upon continuing a good relationship with Rome. In turn, if he kept things under control, he was permitted to do as he wished.
About this time some of the Pharisees and priests heard that Jesus had been called to Bethany because his friend Lazarus had died. Trailing along with Jesus' party, they walked into the most amazing event of their lives -- the raising of Lazarus from the dead. Greatly troubled that such power existed in one outside their group, they quickly returned to Jerusalem to report to Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin.
Caiaphas: "What are we going to do?" they cried. "This man performs many signs -- we saw him raise Lazarus from the dead! -- and he is steadily winning the people. Soon Rome will be inquiring of him, and if they have to intervene in a religious dispute again, our place may be taken away."
Well, I had given this some thought, and I knew I would need to speak with force if I was going to keep these twittering birds in line. "You know nothing at all," I told them. "You do not understand that it is better for you to have one man die for the people, than to have the whole nation destroyed" (John 11:49-50).
A high priest could never say that a man should be murdered, but he could slyly suggest that one man should die if it meant saving the blood of the people. It is far better that one man die than the whole nation, isn't it? Of course. So we laid our plans to bring him to death -- for the good of the people, of course.
On the night we had arranged with Judas to have Jesus arrested, I called for a meeting of the Sanhedrin, so that we might immediately bring him to trial and find him guilty.
Narrator: Caiaphas didn't tell you that this trial was a farce. You need to know that it was illegal to hold a murder trial at night, and this one was undertaken late at night. The witnesses disagreed among themselves; this was a signal to end the trial and acquit the defendant, but that was ignored. The witnesses couldn't present anything for which he was guilty, let alone something that would condemn him to death.
Finally two men reported that they had heard Jesus brag that he could destroy the Temple and build it again in three days.
Caiaphas: This is what I had been waiting for. I left my seat as Judge, pushed the prosecutor aside, glared at this Jesus who had been silent throughout the trial, and shouted: "Have you no answer? What is it these men testify against you?" But he didn't reply. So I called upon the most solemn oath known to Hebrew life, the famous oath of testimony. "I put you under oath before the living God, tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God" (Matthew 26:62-64).
Jesus, so forced, replied, "You have said so."
Immediately I tore my robes, the symbol that blasphemy had been uttered. Raising my voice to a screaming pitch, I railed at the jurors: "Why do we still need witnesses? What is your verdict?"
Do you know what they said? "He deserves death." Of course (Matthew 26:65, 66).
Narrator: Caiaphas didn't tell you it was illegal for the high priest to invite or force a prisoner to convict himself. Nor was it within the law for the judge to leave the bench and take over the role of prosecutor. Nor did it bother Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin that while they found Jesus guilty of blasphemy, they presented him to Pilate guilty of treason.
Caiaphas: Before the trial in front of Pilate we had to work feverishly to use every means at our disposal to incite the people against Jesus. The crowds were very large due to the Passover, which meant that many of these strangers had not heard of Jesus. Playing on their loyalty to the faith, we told them that this Jesus had set out to destroy their faith and place himself above it. With such deep emotions stirred it was easy to manipulate uncritical minds to shout, "Crucify him! Crucify him!" So we won the day.
Perhaps you're taken aback by my straightforward speech? Well, I learned that if you are going to take power into your hands, then you need to be sure that all things are within your hands. If you can control things by speaking politely, then do it. But if tact and diplomacy don't lead you to your goals, then don't shy away from private confrontations where things are said bluntly and where blood might pockmark the conversation. It's when you go nose-to-nose that misunderstandings get cleared up. And I always reminded my adversary who was in charge. Once we all understood what was to be done, then we could return to polite pleasantries again. Our faith didn't come easily for us; we struggled over countless generations to preserve its meaning and practice. I was ready to pay the price. Yes, I lived well. I had a large home, servants, and modest wealth, but that wasn't what prompted my actions. No, it was the protection of the truth that gave shape to my days. This Jesus thought he had the truth, but the big difference between us was he didn't know how to handle power.
Narrator: Caiaphas, and those who preceded him in his office, once were open to the truth. They were daring in their pursuit of it. Slowly they gathered to themselves power, security, and the influence that attends the emergence of truth. It is a very heady wine.
When the crowds shouted for Jesus' death, Caiaphas had completed a very difficult and complex task -- securing his power. Indeed he had won the day. He won other days as well. Twice he was the judge in trials of Peter and John. He presided when Stephen was found guilty. He was the one who commissioned Saul (Paul) to persecute the Christians in Damascus. He was in control.
However, not long after these events, in 37 A.D, he was removed from office. Rome, he was reminded, still called the shots. Within forty years the particular point of view he represented in Judaism was stripped of all influence. His group, the Sadducees, went into oblivion.
Strangely enough 2,000 years later, we refer to Jesus, the inept one according to Caiaphas, as "The King of Kings."
He came to his post through the manipulation of his wealthy father-in-law, the former high priest, Annas, in 18 A.D. The high priest was appointed from Rome and Annas, who had loaned great amounts of money to certain Romans, was in a position to influence the selections.
Don't mistake Annas' intervention as Caiaphas' weakness. Caiaphas leaned on no one. He was a cunning man of great perception, possessing a seemingly inexhaustible supply of self- strength.
Caiaphas: I recall that it was the twelfth year of my being High Priest that word came to my office of some fiery preacher, dressed in sackcloth and ashes of all things, who was calling people to repentance. Furthermore he was claiming to be the forerunner of another who would be the Lord. Where do these people come from?
On the heels of this news came word that one Jesus, a carpenter's son out of Nazareth -- and doesn't that figure? -- was stirring up considerable interest among the people. I told my party members, "We've seen these passionate peasants before. Let's give them a little more rope and they'll likely hang themselves."
Later reports indicated that these men weren't hanging themselves, and the man Jesus was making real inroads into the lives of people. So I enlisted some of the scribes and Pharisees, explaining to them that the best way to apprehend him was to attend his gatherings and trip him up -- expose him -- by asking trick questions. Well, they did, but their traps never caught him. In fact they often came off second best in this battle of wits, and the numbers attending his teaching kept growing. He was a wily one.
So I had my people intensify their watching. We kept waiting for him to make some slip, to be caught in a petty infraction of the law, that we might discredit him. Several abortive attempts were made to arrest him. Yet his influence grew. Can't the people see through these self-appointed authorities?
Narrator: Caiaphas began to counsel regularly with the chief priests as to what they could do to end this man's disturbing, upsetting ministry. Caiaphas and others of the elite Sadducees had much to lose. Please understand that if there was some kind of religious upheaval in Israel, the Romans, who had lost both lives and money in earlier clashes, would strip the high priest and the Sadducees of their power. Caiaphas' great wealth and power depended upon continuing a good relationship with Rome. In turn, if he kept things under control, he was permitted to do as he wished.
About this time some of the Pharisees and priests heard that Jesus had been called to Bethany because his friend Lazarus had died. Trailing along with Jesus' party, they walked into the most amazing event of their lives -- the raising of Lazarus from the dead. Greatly troubled that such power existed in one outside their group, they quickly returned to Jerusalem to report to Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin.
Caiaphas: "What are we going to do?" they cried. "This man performs many signs -- we saw him raise Lazarus from the dead! -- and he is steadily winning the people. Soon Rome will be inquiring of him, and if they have to intervene in a religious dispute again, our place may be taken away."
Well, I had given this some thought, and I knew I would need to speak with force if I was going to keep these twittering birds in line. "You know nothing at all," I told them. "You do not understand that it is better for you to have one man die for the people, than to have the whole nation destroyed" (John 11:49-50).
A high priest could never say that a man should be murdered, but he could slyly suggest that one man should die if it meant saving the blood of the people. It is far better that one man die than the whole nation, isn't it? Of course. So we laid our plans to bring him to death -- for the good of the people, of course.
On the night we had arranged with Judas to have Jesus arrested, I called for a meeting of the Sanhedrin, so that we might immediately bring him to trial and find him guilty.
Narrator: Caiaphas didn't tell you that this trial was a farce. You need to know that it was illegal to hold a murder trial at night, and this one was undertaken late at night. The witnesses disagreed among themselves; this was a signal to end the trial and acquit the defendant, but that was ignored. The witnesses couldn't present anything for which he was guilty, let alone something that would condemn him to death.
Finally two men reported that they had heard Jesus brag that he could destroy the Temple and build it again in three days.
Caiaphas: This is what I had been waiting for. I left my seat as Judge, pushed the prosecutor aside, glared at this Jesus who had been silent throughout the trial, and shouted: "Have you no answer? What is it these men testify against you?" But he didn't reply. So I called upon the most solemn oath known to Hebrew life, the famous oath of testimony. "I put you under oath before the living God, tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God" (Matthew 26:62-64).
Jesus, so forced, replied, "You have said so."
Immediately I tore my robes, the symbol that blasphemy had been uttered. Raising my voice to a screaming pitch, I railed at the jurors: "Why do we still need witnesses? What is your verdict?"
Do you know what they said? "He deserves death." Of course (Matthew 26:65, 66).
Narrator: Caiaphas didn't tell you it was illegal for the high priest to invite or force a prisoner to convict himself. Nor was it within the law for the judge to leave the bench and take over the role of prosecutor. Nor did it bother Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin that while they found Jesus guilty of blasphemy, they presented him to Pilate guilty of treason.
Caiaphas: Before the trial in front of Pilate we had to work feverishly to use every means at our disposal to incite the people against Jesus. The crowds were very large due to the Passover, which meant that many of these strangers had not heard of Jesus. Playing on their loyalty to the faith, we told them that this Jesus had set out to destroy their faith and place himself above it. With such deep emotions stirred it was easy to manipulate uncritical minds to shout, "Crucify him! Crucify him!" So we won the day.
Perhaps you're taken aback by my straightforward speech? Well, I learned that if you are going to take power into your hands, then you need to be sure that all things are within your hands. If you can control things by speaking politely, then do it. But if tact and diplomacy don't lead you to your goals, then don't shy away from private confrontations where things are said bluntly and where blood might pockmark the conversation. It's when you go nose-to-nose that misunderstandings get cleared up. And I always reminded my adversary who was in charge. Once we all understood what was to be done, then we could return to polite pleasantries again. Our faith didn't come easily for us; we struggled over countless generations to preserve its meaning and practice. I was ready to pay the price. Yes, I lived well. I had a large home, servants, and modest wealth, but that wasn't what prompted my actions. No, it was the protection of the truth that gave shape to my days. This Jesus thought he had the truth, but the big difference between us was he didn't know how to handle power.
Narrator: Caiaphas, and those who preceded him in his office, once were open to the truth. They were daring in their pursuit of it. Slowly they gathered to themselves power, security, and the influence that attends the emergence of truth. It is a very heady wine.
When the crowds shouted for Jesus' death, Caiaphas had completed a very difficult and complex task -- securing his power. Indeed he had won the day. He won other days as well. Twice he was the judge in trials of Peter and John. He presided when Stephen was found guilty. He was the one who commissioned Saul (Paul) to persecute the Christians in Damascus. He was in control.
However, not long after these events, in 37 A.D, he was removed from office. Rome, he was reminded, still called the shots. Within forty years the particular point of view he represented in Judaism was stripped of all influence. His group, the Sadducees, went into oblivion.
Strangely enough 2,000 years later, we refer to Jesus, the inept one according to Caiaphas, as "The King of Kings."
