History tells us that Caiaphas was the high priest of the Jewish Sanhedrin between the years AD 18 and 37. He was appointed by Valerius Gratus, the Roman governor prior to Pontius Pilate; and the primary reason that Caiaphas was able to hold on to the position for close to two decades is that he did exactly what was expected of him.

Basically, his job was to ensure that everything continued running as smoothly as possible: first, so that Jews stayed out of jail and off crosses, and second, because there were some clear advantages to cooperating with Rome. The roads were easier to travel, the streets safer at night, and having Roman troops at every corner obviously kept Israel from being invaded by anybody else!

True, the taxes were terrible; and no one really enjoyed living in an occupied territory. But the cost of challenging Caesar’s authority was considerably higher than the cost of compromising with him. You know the old saying—“If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.”

And for most of the year, this forced alliance worked just fine. People may have grumbled about the Romans, but they usually did so under their breath and out of earshot of the soldiers. Passover was the only time when things could get a little dicey because of course, Passover was the celebration of Israel’s dramatic release from captivity, and it never took much to remind folks that release from captivity was still the number one priority.

So when the high priest heard reports of an itinerant Galilean preacher named Jesus, who was stirring up the people, and who was making his way toward Jerusalem for the Passover, Caiaphas’ mind went into overdrive. If he ignored the reports and simply let the agitator go on agitating, then who knows what could happen. The flames of religious fervor were easily stoked this time of year. There could be rioting in the streets. There might even be a full-scale revolt.

The result would be a swift and merciless crackdown by Rome, with many innocent people killed in the process. No matter how Caiaphas did the arithmetic, it always came out the same—better that one person should die than have an entire nation perish! I’m not sure what he had against Jesus personally; he was just being practical and taking care of business. If he wanted to keep his job, he needed to keep the peace.

The irony is that Jesus eventually reached the same conclusion—better for one to die so that everybody else can be spared. Only here’s the thing … Jesus’ death was not to keep the peace; it was to bring peace to us. For Caiaphas, it was “just business, nothing personal” … and for Jesus, it was all personal!