The Last Week of Jesus's LifeSýnishorn

Friday, April 3, 33 AD

Making good on his promise to never desert his master, only Simon Peter and John have the courage to follow their rabbi at a distance. They trail the murderous mob in the dark for at least ten minutes, down the hill from the Mount of Olives, across the Kidron Brook, up the hill to Jerusalem, and through the gate where the not-so-triumphal entry took place. Where are they taking our rabbi?

Peter and John wend their way through a warren of streets to the soundtrack of a hundred thousand Passover pilgrims snoring softly.

They head uphill, to the posh part of town.

The soldiers don’t take Jesus to the Roman praetorium.

They don’t take him to the Herodian palace.

They don’t even take him to the Jewish temple.

Instead, they take him to a colossal two-story villa with an inner courtyard, the palace of an aristocratic Sadducee priest (Matthew 26:3)—the kind of place only the most corrupt and powerful of Jews could afford. Jesus is about to meet the political mastermind who quietly engineered this murder plot.

Inside the villa, an aging terrorist in a high priest’s costume emerges from the shadows. It is none other than Israel’s premier power broker, the head of the most powerful crime family in Jerusalem, and the father-in-law of Joseph Caiaphas, the current high priest. It is Annas himself (John 18:13). He is in his mid-fifties, but he is more lethal than ever. Like his son-in-law, Annas has zero reservations about sacrificing the life of one peasant Galilean to save the nation and his profitable place atop the echelon.

Jesus and Annas stare at one another by firelight. The former believes himself to be God-enfleshed; the latter believes himself to be the holy mediator between man and God. One believes he is the fulfillment of Judaism as a living temple; the other wishes to maintain the status quo as controller of a man-made temple. One offers direct access to God for free; the other acts as a middle-man broker for a crushing fee.

While Caiaphas assembles some like-minded priests, aristocrats, and lawyers, Annas grills Jesus in hopes of extracting a useable accusation (John 18:19–23). It is the first of five corrupt “trials” Jesus will endure this dark night.

While Annas interrogates his nemesis, the “other disciple” (presumably John), being somehow known by Caiaphas (John 18:15), is permitted by the gate girl to come inside. Once inside, he convinces her to let Simon Peter in as well. She does, but asks, “You also are not one of this man’s disciples, are you?” Simon says he is not. Once inside, Simon sits down with the guards and warms himself by the charcoal fire they’ve lit in the middle of the courtyard. With the fire now lighting up his face, the girl looks at him closely and recognizes him. “This man also was with him,” she tells the guards. He denies his connection for the second time: “Woman, I do not know him.”

Meanwhile, Annas accosts Jesus with questions about his disciples and his teaching. This is not a formal trial—none of the Jewish mock trials have any legal Roman weight—and this one is best seen as a private inquisition by a mafia boss. The rabbi insists he has nothing to hide. “I have spoken openly to the world. I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret. Why do you ask me? Ask those who have heard me what I said to them; they know what I said” (John 18:20–21).

Like every good mafia interrogator, one of the nearby temple officers illegally slaps the still-tied-up Jesus in the face. “Is that how you answer the high priest?”

Jesus knows his legal rights. “If what I said is wrong, bear witness about the wrong; but if what I said is right, why do you strike me?” (v. 23).

We do not know how long Annas interrogates Jesus, but it is likely the longest of his trials. If Jesus is arrested around midnight, it may have lasted as long as six hours. Does Annas try to cut a deal with Jesus, offering him a bribe to go away or join the temple hierarchy? It wouldn’t be out of character. If the wildly popular rabbi says no, everything is at stake for Annas. It doesn’t matter if Jesus plans to destroy the temple, overthrow the temple hierarchy and occupy it himself, or be the military messiah who finally overthrows Rome—any scenario sees an immediate unseating for Annas and the end of his wealth and power.

The highest of priests does the math. No matter what, Jesus must die. It isn’t personal—it’s just business.