John is the only Gospel
writer to record Jesus’ appearance before Annas. Caiaphas, the son-in-law of Annas was the
High Priest. Annas had the position
earlier, for several years; and several of his sons served in the post as well
as Caiaphas. All of this made Annas a powerful
and wealthy man (cf. AE, 1198-1201.) They
may have brought Jesus to Annas first while the Sanhedrin gathered at the house
of Caiaphas, preparing to meet at the break of dawn.
It also may be that
Peter was welcomed into the courtyard of
the high priest (meaning at the home of Caiaphas) during that time, being
vouched for by the other disciple who
is probably John. Thus Peter’s denials
(which we will deal with later) began while Jesus was still at the palace of
Annas, but as the other Gospels make clear: they all occurred in the courtyard
of Caiaphas.
John also reminds us
of the words of Caiaphas spoken at an earlier council after the raising of
Lazarus. Caiaphas was of course no
friend or follower of Jesus. The high
priestly family was associated with the Sadducees, what we would term the more
liberal faction of the Sanhedrin. So
Caiaphas had spoken this prophecy accidently,
some might say; but God actually spoke through this evil man who was in the
position of authority in Israel. He is a
shepherd of Israel and bore
responsibility for leading the flock, even if he led them astray.
Given the movement to
Caiaphas’ house in v24 it is likely that v19-23 describe what happened at the
palace of Annas. The house of Caiaphas and the traditional location of the
upper room where Jesus had encouraged His disciples earlier in the evening were
in the same part of the city. The path
to and from Gethsemane, crossing the Kidron, would have been pretty much the
same both ways.
Caiaphas was present
asking questions at this meeting before
the meeting, as we often say. We see
the Good Shepherd face to face with the worthless
shepherd (Ezek. 34:7-10) or the hireling
as Jesus called him (Jn. 10:11-14). Jesus
is right; He did not commit evil in His response. He exercised His right to speak, asking His judge to find witnesses of His supposed crime.
We
see something important about Jesus’ ministry: He taught and ministered
openly. His words and miraculous signs could
be examined. Everything He said and did
had the potential of being controversial because of the high level of
resistance. But still Jesus did not
withhold His claims from the people of Israel, not even in the context of the highly
prejudicial trials involving the high priest.
He was right: you could ask anyone who had heard Him teach and they
should have been able to give an answer to the questions He was being asked.
The
same should be true of followers of Christ today. Always
be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that
is in you (1 Peter 3:15). The cross
of Jesus is the reason for our hope! We should be His defense witness! We should be His letter of commendation (2 Cor. 3:1-3).
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