hotcoffee
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Matthew 26:3 Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, 4 and they schemed to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. 5 “But not during the festival,” they said, “or there may be a riot among the people.”
Here's what one commentary has to say about Caiaphas.
"Annas was deposed by the secular authorities in A.D. 15 AND REPLACED BY CAIAPHAS, WHO LIVED AND RULED TILL HIS DEATH IN A.D. 36. BUT SINCE ACCORDING TO THE OLD TESTAMENT THE HIGH PRIEST WAS NOT TO BE REPLACED TILL AFTER HIS DEATH, THE TRANSFER OF POWER WAS ILLEGAL. DOUBTLESS SOME CONTINUED TO CALL EITHER MAN 'HIGH PRIEST.'"
"Between 37 B.C. AND A.D. 67 THERE WERE NO FEWER THAN TWENTY-EIGHT HIGH PRIESTS. THE SUGGESTIVE THING IS THAT CAIAPHAS WAS HIGH PRIEST FROM A.D. 18 TO A.D. 36. THIS WAS AN EXTRAORDINARILY LONG TIME FOR A HIGH PRIEST TO LAST, AND CAIAPHAS MUST HAVE BROUGHT THE TECHNIQUE OF CO-OPERATING WITH THE ROMANS TO A FINE ART."
"About two years after our Lord's crucifixion, Caiaphas and Pilate were both deposed by Vitellius, then governor of Syria, and afterwards emperor. Caiaphas, unable to bear this disgrace, and the stings of his conscience for the murder of Christ, killed himself about A.D. 35.
"Between 37 B.C. AND A.D. 67 THERE WERE NO FEWER THAN TWENTY-EIGHT HIGH PRIESTS. THE SUGGESTIVE THING IS THAT CAIAPHAS WAS HIGH PRIEST FROM A.D. 18 TO A.D. 36. THIS WAS AN EXTRAORDINARILY LONG TIME FOR A HIGH PRIEST TO LAST, AND CAIAPHAS MUST HAVE BROUGHT THE TECHNIQUE OF CO-OPERATING WITH THE ROMANS TO A FINE ART."
"About two years after our Lord's crucifixion, Caiaphas and Pilate were both deposed by Vitellius, then governor of Syria, and afterwards emperor. Caiaphas, unable to bear this disgrace, and the stings of his conscience for the murder of Christ, killed himself about A.D. 35.
In the easy english commentary, we find this.
The Romans controlled the Jews, so they appointed the chief priest. The priest called Caiaphas was chief priest for 18 years. This was a long time that he remained friends with the Roman rulers. So Caiaphas must have been very skilled while he worked with them. He would have lost his job if there was any form of trouble in the city. There were thousands of Jews in Jerusalem for the Passover ceremony. And many came from Galilee, where Jesus was popular. So Caiaphas decided to wait. They could arrest Jesus later when it would cause less trouble.
Jesus knew what was going to happen.
