Difference between revisions of "Caiaphas"

<p> (Καιάφας) </p> <p> Caiaphas, or [[Joseph]] Caiaphas, was appointed high priest in a.d. 18 by [[Valerius]] Gratus, and held office till a.d. 36, when he was removed by [[Vitellius]] (Jos. <i> Ant </i> . xviii. ii. 2, iv. 3). He was son-in-law of [[Annas]] (cf. articleAnnas). Like most of the priests at this period, [[Caiaphas]] was a [[Sadducee]] in religion. By his masterly policy of conciliating his Roman masters he was able to retain his office for an unusually long period. His craft and subtle diplomacy as well as his supreme disregard for justice and religion are revealed in the advice he gave to the assembled [[Sanhedrin]] after Jesus had won the people by the raising of Lazarus-‘It is expedient that one die for the people’ (&nbsp;John 11:50). Caiaphas saw clearly that if a popular movement in favour of Jesus were aroused, his power and position under Rome would be at an end, and he sought at once to give effect to his own advice. The trial of Jesus in his presence was a travesty of all legal procedure. [[Failing]] to obtain evidence from witnesses, he adjured the prisoner to declare whether or not He was the Messiah; and on Jesus declaring He was, the pious hypocrite rent his clothes, shocked at the blasphemy of the answer. Caiaphas is a type of the wily ecclesiastical opportunist, who places the success of himself and the institution he represents before all claims of truth or justice. Such a character is always ready to persecute, and in the [[Apostolic]] Church Caiaphas appears as a bitter persecutor of the apostles (&nbsp;Acts 4:6). He is probably the high priest referred to in &nbsp;Acts 5:17-21; &nbsp;Acts 5:27; &nbsp;Acts 7:1; &nbsp;Acts 9:1 who imprisoned Peter and John, presided at the trial of Stephen, caused the persecution recorded in Acts 8, and gave Saul of [[Tarsus]] letters to [[Damascus]] to apprehend the [[Christians]] there. </p> <p> Literature.-Josephus, <i> passim </i> ; Schürer, <i> GJV </i> [Note: JV Geschichte des jüdischen Volkes (Schürer).]4 ii. [1907] 256, 271; article‘Caiaphas’ in <i> Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible (5 vols) </i> (M‘Clymont) and <i> Dict. of Christ and the [[Gospels]] </i> [[(C. A]]  Scott); E. Nestle, ‘The Name “Caiaphas,” ’ in <i> Expository Times </i> x. [1898-99] 185; [[W. M]]  Clow, <i> In the Day of the Cross </i> , 1898, p. 9ff., [[J. B]]  Lightfoot, <i> Sermons in St. Paul’s [[Cathedral]] </i> , 1891, p. 75; A. Maclaren, <i> Christ in the [[Heart]] </i> , 1886, p. 255. </p> <p> [[W. F]]  Boyd. </p>

<p> High priest of the Jews, [[A. D]]  27 to 36. He was a Sadducee, and a bitter enemy of Christ. At his palace the priests, etc., met after the resurrection of Lazarus, to plot the death of the Savior, lest all the people should believe on him. On one of these occasions, &nbsp;John 11:47-54 , he counseled the death of Christ for the political salvation of the nation; and his words were, unconsciously to him, an inspired prediction of the salvation of a lost world. These plots against Christ, &nbsp;Matthew 26:1-5 &nbsp; Mark 14:1 &nbsp; Luke 22:2 , led to his seizure, and he was brought first before Annas, formerly high priest, who sent him to Caiaphas his son-in-law. See &nbsp;Matthew 26:57-68 &nbsp; Mark 14:53-72 &nbsp; Luke 22:54-71 &nbsp; John 18:13-27 . Not content with procuring the death of the Savior, Caiaphas and his friends violently persecuted his followers, &nbsp;Acts 4:1-6 &nbsp; 5:17,33 . But a few years after the ascension of Christ, and soon after the degradation of Pilate, Caiaphas also was deposed from office by the Roman proconsul Vitellius. Like [[Balaam]] of the Old Testament, he is a melancholy instance of light resisted, privilege, station, and opportunity abused, and prophetic words concerning Christ joined with a life of infidelity and crime and a fearful death. </p>