Practical Proverbial, from Matthew, 30 September 2025. Today's topic: At Caiaphas' House
His Word, Our Journey
Those who had arrested Jesus took him to Caiaphas the high priest, where the teachers of the law and the elders had assembled. But Peter followed him at a distance, right up to the courtyard of the high priest. He entered and sat down with the guards to see the outcome. Matthew 26:57-58 (NIV).
The details of a conspiracy to have Jesus illegally arrested are unfolding. The Temple guards were purposefully sent to arrest Jesus; that took planning, organization, and time. Earlier in this same chapter, Judas had set all this in motion by going to the Temple officials and negotiating for how to betray his rabbi. Whether this happened on Wednesday or Thursday is immaterial. What matters is that it took time to arrange things so that all this could unfold.
The guards knew exactly where to take Jesus once they had Him in custody, meaning that this, too, had been pre-planned. They couldn’t take Him to the Temple itself because it would defile the Temple (as well as occur in public), And, they couldn’t parade Him around town, even in the early hours, because that would stir the attention of the Romans. So, the guards took their prisoner to the house of Caiaphas, who was the high priest of the temple. If there was a single leader of the Jewish faith of that time, it was Caiaphas. This was his conspiracy; it was he who had planned and organized it. The Temple soldiers knew where to take Jesus, and it’s logical to assume they had been told to.
Caiphas involved other priests, teachers of the law, and the Jewish elders. He summoned them in the middle of the night to his house. Perhaps he had told them why; perhaps it was a surprise when they arrived. Either way, they were now involved in the action their high priest had set in motion several hours before. Don’t overlook the fact, too, that they willingly went. It’s hard to believe they wouldn’t have had some inkling that something was afoot, especially the day before, and especially since there was already tension in Jerusalem during the Passover. The priests, teachers, and elders went to Caiphas’ house willingly even if they may not have known why and may not have agreed with all his views.
Finally, there’s Peter; Peter, who not long before had sliced off a guard’s ear. Peter wanted to keep an eye on Jesus, but he didn’t want to get too close. He didn’t realize he was setting himself in place to fulfill Jesus’ prophecy that he would deny Christ three times. I think Peter in the priest’s courtyard is a good picture of many of us, maybe all of us, from time to time. We love Jesus; we want to be near Him, but our own human sinfulness sometimes gets in the way.
For more, read Mark 14:53-54&66, Mark 15:16, Luke 22:55, John 7:32&45-46, John 18:13-15, Matthew 26:59
Lord Jesus, bless and praise You for what You endured.