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Devotional

God’s People, part 228: Caiaphas

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Read John 18:12-14, 19-24

ALSO IN SCRIPTURE
“Caiaphas, who was high priest at that time, said, ‘You don’t know what you’re talking about! You don’t realize that it’s better for you that one man should die for the people than for the whole nation to be destroyed.’”  (John 11:49-50, NLT)

When we think of God’s people, we tend to think one of two things. We might think of the Israelites who were God’s “chosen people”, or we might think of specific characters in the Bible. Either way, we tend to idealize the people we are thinking about. For instance, we may think that God’s people are super faithful, holy, perform miracles and live wholly devout and righteous lives. Unfortunately, this idealism enables us to distance ourselves from being God’s people, because we feel that we fall short of those ideals. As such, I have decided to write a devotion series on specific characters in the Bible in order to show you how much these Biblical people are truly like us, and how much we are truly called to be God’s people.

Ossuary_of_the_high_priest_Joseph_Caiaphas_P1180839
Jospeh Ben Caiaphas’s Ossuary

Part 228: Caiaphas. It is easy for us to read the Gospels and to see the people who opposed Jesus as being the “bad guys” and as not being “God’s People.” With that said, that is a trap we really ought to not fall into. The people who were the religious leaders, for instance, were not “evil” people who were looking to destroy Jesus of Nazareth for completely malicious reasons.

The reality is that the times in which Jesus lived in were as complex and confusing as our own times. The religious leadership, just like the rest of Judaea, was living under the reality of Roman occupation and oppression. The Temple, and Caiaphas as the High Priest, is the greatest example of that complexity.

The primary sources we have on Caiaphas are the New Testament and the writings of the first century Jewish/Roman historian Flavius Josephus. Caiaphas’ full name was actually Joseph ben Caiaphas (meaning Joseph son of Caiaphas). So, properly speaking, Joseph was his name and Caiaphas was his father’s name. Beyond his name, we can gather a lot from Jospehus that creates an even broader picture when considered along with the New Testament account.

Here’s a basic summary of who Caiaphas was and what made him tick. First, he was in a line of High Priests who were connected to the Sadducee party. He was not directly in the line, but only through marriage to the High Priest Annas. The Sadducees were mostly the Jewish elite and of prominent wealth, and so Joseph ben Caiaphas married into an extremely wealthy and powerful family.

Joseph ben Caiaphas came to be High Priest during a very turbulent time in Jewish history. His father-in-law had been High Priest, but was deposed after the death of the Emperor Augustus. Still, Annas continued to have quite an amount of sway and power despite his being deposed. He was succeeded by his son Eleazar. Eleazar was succeeded by someone outside of the line of Annas, by the name of Simon ben Camithus, who was so unpopular that he only served a year. Simon was succeeded by Caiaphas.

The role of the High Priest was both spiritual role and a political role. The High Priest was the head officiant at the Temple and was the leader of the Jewish Sanhedrin, a council that weighed in on Jewish Law. With that said, High Priests were appointed by the Roman governor. At the time of Caiaphas’ ascent to the position, Valerius Gratus was the governor; therefore, Valerius Gratus was the governor.

What this means is that Caiaphas must have built a strong and good relationship, probably with the help of his father-in-law, with Gratus. As such, he was appointed and remained in the position at the pleasure of the governor and was in that position for a very long time. When Pontius Pilate became the governor, he chose to leave Caiaphas right where he was as High Priest. This shows that the Romans trusted Caiaphas to be politically good for them in that position.

Of course, being in good with the Romans made the High Priests subject to fierce criticism from different Jewish sects. The Essenes left Jerusalem and lived in the wilderness because of the disgust they had toward what they saw as the corruption of the Temple. The violent political Jewish party called the Zealots, were enraged by the Roman hands appointing Jewish leaders and priests, and they were constantly threatening the Jewish religious hierarchy and Roman rule.

These were very tense times that Jesus came onto the scene during. This Nazarene not only challenged the Pharisees and their understanding of the Torah, but he also overturned the tables in the Temple and called himself the Son of God and the Messiah. Caiaphas’ position depended on his being able to deal with any threat to Jewish order and Roman peace. To Caiaphas, this Jesus was a real threat who could inspire a rebellion. If that happened, many Jews would be slaughtered, he would lose his position as High Priest, and possibly even his own life. He could not let that happen.

But Caiaphas also could not just bring Jesus up on charges of blasphemy, for those charges would not concern Pontius Pilate in the slightest; rather, Caiaphas had to prove that Jesus was not only a threat to the religious order, but also to Roman rule. Caiaphas had no authority to kill Jesus, only the Romans could do that, so the only way to remove this threat was to make the case that Jesus was not just a blasphemer, but a traitor against Rome. Jesus’ claim to be the Son of God (a title reserved for the Roman Emperor: divi filius) and the messiah (or anointed King of Israel in the line of David) gave Caiaphas a strong case to present to Pilate.

Caiaphas did what he did for many reasons. He did it to maintain power, authority, and status. He also did it to maintain peace and keep many people from being slaughtered (John 11:49-50). He did it out of fear, but he also did it out of his sacred duty to be the shepherd of his people. He did it for political motivations and ambitions, but he no doubt believed he was doing what was the right thing to do.

The challenge for us is to realize that even though we are God’s people, we can still make decisions and carry out actions that are very, very wrong. Our pride and our need to maintain the status quo can lead us to actually turn our backs on the God we love and claim to follow. Caiaphas is not alone in doing that. He was was complex man, but we are all complex people. The challenge for us is to look at ourselves through the mirror of Scripture and be cautious in our own motivations in how we act and behave.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY
“The way of sinners is paved with smooth stones, but at its end is the pit of Hades.” – Ben Sira of Jerusalem” (Sirach 21:10, NRSVA).

PRAYER
Lord, help me to be a person who looks past my own complexity to you, your grace, and your Word for guidance. Amen.

Devotional

God’s People, part 124: Sadducees

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Read Acts 4:1-22

ALSO IN SCRIPTURE
“Then Jesus was approached by some Sadducees—religious leaders who say there is no resurrection from the dead.”  (Luke 20:27, NLT)

When we think of God’s people, we tend to think one of two things. We might think of the Israelites who were God’s “chosen people”, or we might think of specific characters in the Bible. Either way, we tend to idealize the people we are thinking about. For instance, we may think that God’s people are super faithful, holy, perform miracles and live wholly devout and righteous lives. Unfortunately, this idealism enables us to distance ourselves from being God’s people, because we feel that we fall short of those ideals. As such, I have decided to write a devotion series on specific characters in the Bible in order to show you how much these Biblical people are truly like us, and how much we are truly called to be God’s people.

SadduceesPart 124: Sadducees. The Sadducees were a group of people who existed during the Second Temple period in Jerusalem (516 BCE – 70 CE). They became prominent during the second century BCE and were among the sects of Judaism during a very divided time in Jewish history. The division stemmed around the Hellenization (e.g infiltration of Greek culture) of Israel under the Seleucid Empire.

While some groups, such as the Pharisees, thought one ought to separate themselves from Grecco-Roman culture altogether, the Sadducees worked to regulate relations with their foreign occupiers. This is not to say that the Sadducees promoted Helenization; however, their role was a political one as much as it was religious. They were of the high social class of Jewish society, they were the aristocracy, and they had much influence and power in Judaea.

This was epsecially true when the Romans conquered and occupied Judaea. Annas and Caiaphas were both members of the Sadducees. Annas was appointed to the position of high priest by the Roman governor of Syria, Quirinius. While not all priests and high priests were Sadducees, many of them were. They were responsible for maintaining the Temple and the life of worship. They performed rituals, sacrifices, and other duties related to the temple; however, they also served as politicians and judges.

They were on the Sanhedrin, the ruling Jewish Council, along with the Pharisees. They managed the state domestically, and represented the state internationally. They collected taxes, including collecting international tax from Jews living in other countries. They also equipped and led the Jewish army, and structured relations with the Romans. On top of all of those political roles, the Sadducees also mediated local and household complaints.

The Sadducees were a people of great prominence and importance. With control over the Temple and the worship life of the Jewish people, the Sadducees held a power that few Jewish groups in that time period had. They were an aristocratic sect that had utilized its status in ways that often benefited them to the detriment of the people beneath them. This angered many, and caused dissident sects like the Essenes and the Zealots to take matters into their own hands to usher in the Messianic age.

As we will soon see, this group would cross paths with the Christ, the anointed One of God, Jesus of Nazareth. The Messiah would not be impressed by their power, nor would he be afraid to hold them and others accountable for the way they abused the authority God had given them. This imminent confrontation would lead to the most dramatic and powerful events the world has ever seen.

The challenge for us is to remember the Sadducees and recognize our own desire for power, control, and authority. We ought to keep that desire in check and remember that it is God who is power, it is God who is in control and who has authority, not us.

Let us submit ourselves to God rather than try to bend God into submission. The latter will NEVER happen and will lead us to our own downfall, just as surely as the power hungry Sadducees went down with their Temple when the Romans finally came in and destroyed it along with the entire city of Jerusalem. Remember, to God be the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY
“Watch out! Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” – Jesus Christ (Matthew 16:6, NLT)

PRAYER
Lord, I surrender all to you, and place all that have and all that I am in your hands. Amen.

Devotional

God’s People, part 123: High Priest

1 Comment

Read John 11:45-57

ALSO IN SCRIPTURE
“‘Away with him,’ they yelled. ‘Away with him! Crucify him!’ ‘What? Crucify your king?’ Pilate asked. ‘We have no king but Caesar,’ the leading priests shouted back.”  (John 19:15, NLT)

When we think of God’s people, we tend to think one of two things. We might think of the Israelites who were God’s “chosen people”, or we might think of specific characters in the Bible. Either way, we tend to idealize the people we are thinking about. For instance, we may think that God’s people are super faithful, holy, perform miracles and live wholly devout and righteous lives. Unfortunately, this idealism enables us to distance ourselves from being God’s people, because we feel that we fall short of those ideals. As such, I have decided to write a devotion series on specific characters in the Bible in order to show you how much these Biblical people are truly like us, and how much we are truly called to be God’s people.

bible-videos-caiaphas-jesus-trial-1426886-printPart 123: High Priest. When we think of the High Priest of the temple in Jerusalem, we think of someone who was from the Levites and was chosen by God to serve in the position of High Priest, fulfilling the duties of ordering the worship life of the Temple and leading the kingdom of Israel in an ongoing and faithful relationship with God. We think of someone divinely chosen and independent of politics.

Unfortunately, this is a mistake. First, the High Priest WAS a political position as much as it was a religious one. The ancient world did not make any sort of distinction between the political and the religious spheres. That distinction is, strictly speaking, a modern one. This is extremely important to realize. The high priest was not just in charge of religion, but also of law. The TORAH was not just religious law, but the LAW of the land.

Second, the High Priest in the time of the Roman occupation became more of a political role than it was religious. This may sound scandalous and, if you are thinking that, you are absolutely right. It was scandalous. By Jesus’ time, some groups such as the Essenes had left Jerusalem and went out into the wilderness to live. They believed that the corruption of the office of the High Priest, and the ultimate corruption of the Temple, were signs of the end times. Thus, they waited in the wilderness for the Messiah to come, ready to join the holy war when that time came.

The first high priest to be appointed under the newly formed Roman province of Iudaea (aka Judea, pronounced Yoo-dee-ah), was Annas in 6 CE. What’s more, Annas was appointed to that position by Quirinius, the Roman legate governor of Syria. You read that right! A Roman aristocrat and politician appointed Annas as the High Priest of Judea. I am sure you can now see why groups like the Essenes “got out of Dodge” and headed for the wilderness hills.

Annas’ was deposed as High Priest in 15 CE at the age of 36. With that said he held great influence of the Sanhedrin (the Jewish Legal Council made up of priests) through his sons who succeeded him in the role of High Priest. First, his son Eleazar succeeded him and was High Priest for one year (16-17 CE). Following Eleazar was Annas’s son-in-law, Caiaphas. He was High Priest from 18-36 CE and was the High Priest who plotted to have Jesus handed over to the Romans to be crucified.

As you can see, there were major politics at play here in the first century. We Christians like to pretend that everything Jesus did was “spiritual” and not “political”; however, this simply was not true. By accusing the High Priest of hypocrisy and corruption, by violently overturning the tables in the Temple, Jesus was intentionally upsetting the political and the religious order simultaneously!

This should challenge us as Christians. We often choose to remain silent on issues because we don’t want to be “political”; however, our silence is just as political as speaking out. In fact, when we don’t speak out we stamp our seal of approval on whatever it is that is going on. We ought not be afraid of upsetting the political or the religious order. If what is going on is wrong, we ought to take a stand against it. Our Lord did no less. We ought to carefully steer away from the status quo, which the High Priests were holding fast to for their political gain and power, and draw close to Jesus who would have us interrupt the silence for the Kingdom of God.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY
Damning are the politics of silence.

PRAYER
Lord, give me courage to interrupt the silence. For I know you are with me and strengthen me. You are my rock and my redeemer. Amen.