Musings of Maurice D. Perry

Could the Jews have been hoodwinked and bamboozled into rejecting Jesus as Messiah?

I know this question seems rather weird and outrageous at first glance, but it’s something that I’ve had in the back of my mind for a couple of years now. The focal point of my question is Caiaphas, the high priest.

Probably the most significant piece of dialog between Caiaphas and Jesus is found in Matthew 26:57-68, after Jesus was captured and brought to Caiaphas for “interrogation”:

Matthew 26:57-68 (KJV)
57And they that had laid hold on Jesus led him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled.
58But Peter followed him afar off unto the high priest’s palace, and went in, and sat with the servants, to see the end.
59Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death;
60But found none: yea, though many false witnesses came, yet found they none. At the last came two false witnesses,
61And said, This fellow said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days.
62And the high priest arose, and said unto him, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee?
63But Jesus held his peace, And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God
64Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.
65Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy.
66What think ye? They answered and said, He is guilty of death.
67Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him; and others smote him with the palms of their hands,
68Saying, Prophesy unto us, thou Christ, Who is he that smote thee?

We see here in this passage that Caiaphas asks Jesus a direct question: Are you the Christ, the Son of God? Jesus responds, saying, in other words, “You’ve said it! And I’ll tell you another thing, after this point, you’ll know that I’m sitting on the right hand of the Father when I come in the clouds of heaven (come in judgment).” What was Caiaphas’ response? He ripped his clothes and yelled “blasphemy!” Then he turned to the others (chief priests, elders, and all the council – v. 59) to ask them what they thought about what Jesus had just said. They all said that “he’s guilty of death!”

Despite what we see that transpired in this scene, I propose that Caiaphas gave an “Emmy Award winning performance”, in which motivated the audience to condemn Jesus to death in order to fulfill what he ALREADY KNEW in regards to Jesus being Lord and Savior, the Messiah! Now, I know some that are reading this are thinking that I’ve lost my mind! But let me bring your attention to a passage in the book of John:

John 11:47-53 (KJV)
47Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles.
48If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation.
49And one of them, named Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, said unto them, Ye know nothing at all,
50Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not.
51And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation;
52And not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad.
53Then from that day forth they took counsel together for to put him to death.

Here, we read that Caiaphas recognized that it was necessary for a man (Jesus) to die for a nation (Israel), and not for that nation only, but also the gentile nations as well! Caiaphas was apparently well versed in the law and old testament prophecies that foreshadowed the coming of Messiah. As Paul mentioned,

Galatians 3:24 (KJV)
24Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

Below are some verses that Caiaphas may have had revelatory understanding of in which enabled him to see Jesus as the one to fulfill all prophecies about Messiah:

Genesis 49:10
10The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.

2 Samuel 7:12
12And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.

Psalm 22:16
16For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.

Psalm 41:9
9Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.

Psalm 69:8
8I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother’s children.

Psalm 118:22-23
22The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.
23This is the LORD’s doing; it is marvellous in our eyes.

Isaiah 9:6-7
6For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
7Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

Isaiah 28:16
16Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.

Isaiah 35:5-6
5Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
6Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.

Isaiah 50:6
6I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.

Isaiah 53
2For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
3He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

 7He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
8He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. 

 10Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
11He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
12Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

Jeremiah 23:5
5Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.

Daniel 9:26
26And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.

Micah 5:2
2But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.

Zechariah 9:9
9Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.

 So, as you can see, Caiaphas had a wealth of prophetic decrees throughout Old Testament scriptures to formulate a conclusion that Jesus was, in fact, the one hoped for. He had to correct the other chief priests and elders and tell them that a man MUST die for the sins of the nation!

John 11:51 
51And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation;

 The question may be, “Well, why didn’t Caiaphas just come out and tell the people who Jesus really was?” The answer? Perhaps he knew that scripture had to be fulfilled and that Jesus had to suffer and die on the cross so that salvation can come through Him. Also, if the people’s eyes were open to who Jesus really was, they would not have allowed Him to die on the cross! The crucifixion HAD to take place for all things to be fulfilled.

Hence, this is the reason why I’m labeling Caiaphas as the “Great Pretender”! He had to go through with the “act” of judging Jesus and condemning Him to death. His actions and his response to Jesus’ claims of being the Son of God stirred the crowd, and everyone jumped on the frenzied bandwagon to put Jesus to death. Even this was part of the entire orchestration!

Now, unless there are two high priests named Caiaphas in scripture, I believe that this is something that must be taken into consideration. What would be another reason for John to mention that Caiaphas “knew” who Jesus was? This is definitely something to ponder!