Who was Caiaphas?

The short answer

Caiaphas was the high priest in Jerusalem, the top religious leader under Roman rule. He led the council that wanted Jesus dead, and Jesus was brought to him after the arrest. His father-in-law, Annas, had been high priest before him.

What the record says

Luke places the start of John the Baptist’s work “during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas” (Luke 3:2).

After Lazarus was raised, the council worried that the Romans would come and take away “both our place and our nation” (John 11:48). Caiaphas spoke up:

But a certain one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all, nor do you consider that it is advantageous for us that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish.”

John 11:49 to 50

John says that from that day they planned to put Jesus to death (John 11:53).

On the night of the arrest, Jesus was taken first to Annas, “father-in-law to Caiaphas” (John 18:13), and then to Caiaphas. At the hearing the high priest asked him straight out:

The high priest answered him, “I adjure you by the living God that you tell us whether you are the Christ, the Son of God.”

Matthew 26:63

When Jesus answered, the high priest tore his clothing and called it blasphemy (Matthew 26:65). In the morning they bound Jesus and handed him over to Pilate (Matthew 27:1 to 2).

How Third Day tells it

Third Day is a novel. In the novel he goes by Yeshua, the name his family would have called him. In chapter three, “The Chamber,” Caiaphas walks into the council after Lazarus is raised and asks what they will do with Jesus of Nazareth. He has held his office under Roman governors who throw out lesser men for one bad week. He tells them it is better that one man die than that the community perish. In chapter sixteen, “The Courtyard,” the council meets at his house in the city with fourteen seats empty. The witnesses can’t agree. Caiaphas lets the last two contradict each other and sends them away. Then he crosses the floor and puts his finger in the prisoner’s face.

“By the living God, tell us. Are you the Deliverer, the Son of God?”

Yeshua says he is, and that soon he goes to the Father. Caiaphas tears his robe. At first light, when the judges need a charge Rome will hear, he tells them to use the crowd. After the tomb is found empty, he pays the guards to say the body was stolen while they slept.