Good Friday

Greek theatre became an art form long before the first century. But in the first century it still flourished in the cities of the Roman Empire, including in Jerusalem.

One of the most interesting of the Greek theatre genre is the tragedy. A “tragedy” is a play in which a “hero,” a character usually wealthy, powerful, prideful, or otherwise elevated, contains in himself an “inner flaw.” That “tragic flaw” would result in some tumultuous downfall and ruination. In many cases, the “hero” “commits a terrible crime without realizing how foolish he or she has been. Later, as the error is realized, their world crumbles around them.

During Holy Week, I think about the tragedy of Caiaphas. If ever there was a tragic “hero,” it’s got to be Caiaphas.

Joseph Caiaphas (the Hellenized name of Yosef bar Kayafa) is one of several high priests appointed by the Roman prefect Valerius Gratus in the first century. His father-in-law, Annas, was also a high priest several years before him. Joseph Caiaphas had married Annas’ daughter, and therefore became part of this wealthy and influential family, able to be appointed into the priestly office.

Although traditional from the time of Aaron that the high priest would be appointed by family lineage, after the conquest of the Romans, the high priest became a politically appointed position, put into station and power by Roman authority. He lived in the best home. He drank the best wine. He ate the best food.

The families of high priests were powerful. As head of the Sanhedrin, the high priest had the final say in all judgments. High Priests were members of the sect called the Sadducees. The Sadducees accepted the written Torah, but rejected the oral Torah. They also rejected ideas about angel visitations and resurrection. Their job was to uphold and preside over the Temple sacrifices and to represent Roman rule. As such, they did not mingle with the people, but kept to themselves, spending most of their time with the wealthy and elite of Jerusalem. Highly Hellenized, most of them were educated in the gymnasium in Jerusalem, and were supporters of the Greek arts, language, and culture as well as Roman politicians.

The Sadducees were in frequent conflict with the Pharisees, the more devoted of the two to Jewish faith and practice. But Sadducees were the only ones in the Temple who could mediate between the people and YHWH. Only they could make the yearly sacrifices for atonement of the people.

As the one responsible for the “atonement” of the Jewish people, the high priest is the wealthy, powerful “hero” of our story. Or should have been. Except for that tragic flaw.

Caiaphas is blinded by his position and bound to the status quo. He is so desperate to cling to his authority and position that he misses the meaning of God’s oracle, and sentences God’s Son to death.

Yes, Caiaphas, High Priest of Jerusalem received an oracle, a revelation, a vision, a message from God concerning Jesus! Caiaphas had a special visitation. He was told who Jesus was. And then….his fatal flaw kicked in. He misinterpreted God’s message, and he killed God’s messenger.

Throughout Jewish history, the high priest was known to have the power of receiving special messages and revelations from God. They had a special wisdom to judge over what to do in any given circumstance. Even the high priest’s vest contained two very special mystical stones, the Urim and Thummim. These would be consulted in times when decisions were vital in the life of the people. If the light glowed from the stones, the answer would be favorable. If they dimmed, the answer was negative. But aside from this, the high priest could also be blessed with a dream or a vision, a kind of revelation or prophecy. He would be the one to relay that message to the people. But first, he would have to interpret it.

Caiaphas received such a dream from God. But he misinterpreted God’s oracle to his own advantage.

Caiaphas’ tragic flaw. Everything is a mirror; nothing is a window.

Caiaphas, as high priest, prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation. And Jesus would die not just for the Jewish nation, but also for all of the scattered children of God….in order to bring them together and make them one.

Caiaphas received a message from God about just who Jesus was. But instead of pondering God’s oracle in his heart, instead of seeing him as the hope of Jerusalem, Caiaphas had a one-track mind – this must mean that he, Caiaphas, could save the Jewish people merely by sentencing this one man to death.

Caiaphas uses God’s holy message to justify his sentencing of Jesus to death. Did he somehow in his own mind think he was participating in God’s plan? Did he think God was sanctioning his own fear of an uprising that could upset the delicate balance he held between the Jews and the Romans? Did he think God wanted him to sentence Jesus as part of his redemptive plan?

We cannot possibly know all of what went on in Caiaphas’ mind, but we do know he expressed concern that the people would begin revolting against Rome as a result of Jesus’ ministry. And that by sentencing this one man to death, he could keep peace in the Temple of Jerusalem –and the butter upon his own bread.

So when he asks Jesus who he is, and when Jesus replies “I am the Messiah,” he confirms the oracle. Caiaphas had already decided that Jesus must die because he claimed to be the son of God.

Blasphemy. That was the reason the high priest gave for making his judgment of death upon Jesus. And with that sentence, he himself had blasphemed God’s sacred vision and his own office. He himself had become a willing participant in God’s opposition. The high priest, atoner of the people, the one responsible for bridging communication between the people and God, had become high priest fallen, foe of God, breaker of bridges, tearer down of the holy raiment.

Caiaphas, like the tragic high priest he was, wore the mask of Judaism. But behind it lurked the spirit of Dionysus, the spirit of tragedy, the face of a Roman politician. “Hypocrites!” Jesus would accuse them. “Remove your masks!” Step into the light!

Jesus the Light had come. And Caiaphas had missed it. Everything was a mirror, even when he was given a window and a lamp. How tragic!

If not for the wonder and beautiful grace of God, Caiaphas’ fatal flaw may have doomed all of God’s people. But instead, his sentencing of Jesus became only one more step in God’s final salvation. For out of Jesus’ death will come the resurrection that Caiaphas never believed in.

If you happen to be a doubter like Caiaphas, remember the old saying: “Just because you don’t believe in Jesus, doesn’t mean he doesn’t believe in you.”

No matter what your struggles, or tragic flaws, even if they be terrible, Jesus will rise victoriously on your behalf to offer you the branch of redemption.

Because no matter what you think of yourself, or what mistakes you’ve made, Jesus believes in you. And Jesus died….for you.

For out of every tragedy, God brings from it Truth, and Life.

May the spirit of Holy Week be for you a gift of hope amidst a sea of sorrow, a beacon of God’s true light that emerges from all the masks of tragedy. Yes, it may be Good Friday, but Easter is coming.