How are some like Caiaphas today?

What is the best way to deal with such people?

Shrewd, manipulative, and cunning are all words that could be applied to Caiaphas, the High priest who presided over two of the trials of Jesus. Even without the Biblical accounts, we would know that he was a wily schemer from the fact that the Romans allowed him to stay in office for 18 years, an extraordinary length of time which contrasts markedly with the "rapid changes in office both before and after him." (D.E. Hiebert, Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, p. 683).

But it is in the scriptures that we most vividly see his craftiness in maintaining political power. After the resurrection of Lazarus he coldly plotted the death of Jesus, trying to salve the conscience of any in the Sanhedrin who may have been faint hearted by trying to attribute lofty motives to the evil deed, "...it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish" (Jn. 11:50).

When with Judas' help he succeeded in capturing the Savior, his every move was designed to have Him killed as quickly as possible with no thought given to fairness or legality. After Jesus appeared before, Annas, his father in law, who some Jews considered to be a de facto High Priest, Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin put Him through two sham trials: an informal one before dawn and another shortly afterwards, perhaps conducted to try to give an illusion of legality.

In the first trial, Caiaphas cynically presided over a parade of false witnesses. When Jesus remained silent, and refused to lower himself to the level of his accusers, Caiphas impatiently demanded a direct answer to the question as to whether He was the Son of God. Upon hearing an affirmative answer, he hypocritically rent his clothes in mock shock and declared, "what further need do we have of witnesses? Look, now you have heard his blasphemy" (Mt. 26:65). He then stood by as the profane rabble spat upon Jesus and ridiculed him.

The hatred of Caiaphas for God's way did not end with the death of Jesus. He was active in the persecution of Peter and John (Acts 4:6) and was probably the high priest mentioned in Acts 5:17-21, 27; 7:1 and 9:1 who vigorously persecuted Christians.

Life to Caiaphas meant nothing more than gaining and maintaining his little bit of meaningless power. For all of his maneuvering and plotting, he is a completely insignificant figure in history except for his infamous dealings with Jesus and Christians. His obsession with maintaining power, caused him to be cold, indifferent and blind to the presence of the Son of God in his midst.

Jesus understood that He and Caiphas were of two completely different realms and that it would be impossible to deal with Caiphas in his own worldly, political domain. Jesus did not try to organize a protest, encourage a boycott or use some kind of political leverage to get Caiaphas in trouble. There were no appeals to lawyers, or threats of revenge. The mission of Jesus was to convince those with open hearts, not exert political pressure on those with hardened hearts. Thus, when Jesus had to deal with Caiaphas, we see only dignified silence in the face of unspeakable injustice and finally a simple answer, "thou sayest" to the direct question as to whether He was the Son of God. Any other approach to this close minded, shallow man of the world would have been useless and demeaning.

Today Christ's followers have to deal on occasions with men and women who feel that the purpose of life is to gain and maintain dominating influence over some "realm" that may be as small as a local church or as large as an entire nation.

* Caiaphases in politics: The United States is increasingly coming under the control of politicians who like Caiaphas, have little principle and whose sole purpose is to maintain the power they have gained. Since our society has become very corrupt, the way to maintain political power is to support or at least not undermine, ungodly practices that are valued by worldly people. Thus we see the reluctance to outlaw pornography, the killing of unborn babies and other unspeakable vices.

What should the Christian's attitude be towards these unprincipled politicians? Too many place their hope in boycotts, voting drives, petitions and political pressure. While such tactics may not always be wrong, are they really the tactics of Jesus?

Remember, Christ's mission is to change the hearts of those who might be open to truth, not force hardhearted people, to do what they don't want to do. Shouldn't we as Christians follow the example of Christ in dealing with modern day political Caiaphases?

* Caiaphases in the church: Unfortunately, the drive to extend and maintain "realms of influence" in the spirit of Caiaphas is not unknown among God's people. Sometimes it seems that a few brethren discard all sense of fair play, dignity and love in an effort to "win battles" and gain influence. Some, like Caiaphas, try to attribute lofty motives to their Machiavellian maneuvers.

How should we deal with such modern day Caiaphases? Sometimes it is tempting to lower ourselves to their level and "fight fire with fire" or "show them for what they really are." However, when it is obvious that some have become completely calloused to the concepts of justice and fairness, the best way to deal with them might often be as the Lord dealt with Caiaphas, with dignified silence. They are of a different world, a world in which greatness is determined not by humility and service as Jesus taught, but by gaining an almost political type of leverage over others. To flail away indignantly at their excesses may be as demeaning as it is useless.
May God help us to imitate His Son, in dealing with those Caiaphases who unfortunately will always be encountered during our journey towards heaven.