“You have said so,” Jesus replied. “But I say to all of you: From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.” (Matthew 26:64)
“I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.” (John 10:16)
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. Here, Herod the Great had built an astounding open air theatre in the upper part of the city. There, the wealthiest of the Jews would attend Greek and Roman theatre performances.
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.
The word for tragedy in Greek encompasses two words, “trag” and “odia” which mean respectively, “goat” and “song.” A Greek theatre tragedy therefore was a “goat-song,” a tribute to the Greek god of theatre, Dionysos, to whom a sacrifice of goats was made.
I don’t know about you. But I can’t help think about Jesus’ parable of the sheep and the goats when I think about the tragedy of Caiaphas, and the Jerusalem priesthood in the time of Jesus. If ever there was a tragic “hero,” it’s got to be Caiaphas.
What do we know about this guy? We don’t hear much about Caiaphas in the scriptures. We pretty much whisk over the arrest and trial of Jesus in order to get to the final moment of his crucifixion, and even more so to his resurrection.
But Jesus’ encounter with Caiaphas, and the character of Caiaphas himself, is utterly fascinating. And tragic!
Joseph Caiaphas (the Hellenized name of Yosef bar Kayafa) is one of several high priests appointed by Roman prefect Valarius Gratus in the first century. His father-in-law, Annas (otherwise known as Hanan or Ananus ben Seth), was also a high priest several years before him, thereby retaining the title of “high priest” even though he was no longer serving in the current office of the High Priest in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus’ trial. 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. He avoided the people whenever he could.
While Hanan (Annas), whose sons would also become high priests, held the position for 9 years, Joseph Caiaphas held it for 18 years, from about 18 CE to 36 CE. Annas’ influential family in fact ruled for about 30 years until the fall of Jerusalem. Compared to most others who held the position for only 1 to 2 years, Caiaphas in fact continued to hold the office even after Valerius Gratus was replaced by Pontius Pilate, so amenable was he with the Roman authorities.**
The families of high priests were powerful and wealthy. 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 (built in the time of Menelaus in 172-162 BCE), 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. They only could make the yearly sacrifices for atonement of the people.
In Jesus’ day, they still wore the traditional priestly garb, said to represent the “setting apart” of the high priest from others. The Sadducees’ role as “savior” of the Jews, and the Sadducees fondness for Hellenistic culture along with their willingness to serve as puppets for the Roman occupiers, made for a strange combination.^
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. What is Caiaphas’s “tragic flaw”?
He 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! We skid over this part of the story. 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 receives such a dream from God. Even Caiaphas, because he is in the office of high priest, even if not a descendent of Aaron, receives a holy vision about the truth of Jesus’ identity directly from God ---but he misinterprets God’s oracle to his own advantage.
Caiaphas’ tragic flaw. Everything is a mirror; nothing is a window.
Let’s look at that scripture again from the gospel of John:
Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, “You know nothing at all! You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.”
He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one. So, from that day on they plotted to take his life.
Caiaphas, as high priest, prophesied that Jesus [not someone], but this Jesus, who was preaching and teaching and gathering the people of Israel,….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.
Wow!
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? Was he just being satirical?
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 to confirm who he is, and when Jesus replies “I am,” he confirms the oracle. Caiaphas had already decided that Jesus must die. And he already knew who he was! Let’s read that again:
Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?”
“I am,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
The high priest tore his clothes. “Why do we need any more witnesses?” he asked. “You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?
”They all condemned him as worthy of death.
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.
The only high priest from then on would be the High Priest Melchizedek, Jesus the Christ.
And oh what a fall it was! The hero loses. And the underdog wins. But it wouldn’t be until the fall of Jerusalem 50 years later, until the consequences of that fatal flaw would truly come to pass. And perhaps then, Caiaphas realized, as the world as he knew it crumbled around him along with the Jerusalem Temple, that he had condemned the very Son of God, and so had condemned Jerusalem and all of its former glory, with him.
The Jerusalem Temple would be no more. Like Caiaphas’ holy garments, soon the curtain of the holies would be split in two, a sign of the fissure to come that would split the Jews who sold out to Rome from those who followed Jesus.
Caiaphas, like the tragic high priest he was, wore the mask of Judaism. But behind it lurked the spirit of Dionysos, 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!
There’s a story of a Ship’s Captain who instructed his family in Morse code, the ways of the sea, and the language of sailing. But the captain’s son felt these lessons arrogant of his father and unimportant to his upbringing. As time went on, the young man grew, married, and had a family. One day, his wife and children went on a trip with his father and mother to attend an event in another town. Sometime that night, a storm arose, and the boat began floundering on the seas. In an effort to save the ship’s inhabitants, the Captain sent a message in morse code to his son, so that he could send help on the way. But when his son received the message, he couldn’t decipher it. Instead of “send help” he thought the message said, “we’ve arrived.” And the son went back to sleep. In the morning, when news came of his family’s demise, the young man at last realized his arrogance and foolishness. But it was too late. And his family would never be coming home.
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.
There’s a phrase I’ve heard in the past. Perhaps you have as well: “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 all of you.
For out of every tragedy in life, God brings from it Truth, and Life.
May the spirit of Lent be for you a gift of hope amidst a sea of sorrow, a beacon of God’s true light that emerges from all masks of tragedy.
*Slideshare.net “The Elements of Greek Tragedy”
**http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/high-priests-of-the-jews/
***See Caiaphas: Friend of Rome and Judge of Jesus by Helen Katharine Bond
^While the name for the Sadducees is said to come from the Zaddikim or “righteous ones,” archaeological evidence shows that Greek coins were in fact inserted into the mouths of the dead in Caiphas’s own family upon burial –a custom of the Greeks that ensured that the dead would be ushered across the River Styx. The Sadducees were well-educated, wealthy, the Jewish aristocracy of the day. Part of their inclusion in Greek and Roman culture would have been trips to Herod’s magnificent theatre in order to watch Greek Tragedy and Comedy.
Based on the Story Lectionary
Major Text
Caiaphas’ Dream of the Messiah, Jesus’ Prayer in Gethsemane, and His Arrest by Jewish Officials (John 11:45-57 and 18:1-27)
Jesus’ Prayer in Gethsemane, His Arrest, and His Confrontation by Caiaphas the High Priest (Matthew 26:36-56 and 57-75;
Minor Text
The Priest of Melchizedek, King of Salem (Genesis 14:14-18)
The Priestly Garments of Holiness (Exodus 28)
The Ordination of Aaron (Leviticus 8)
Aaron’s Priestly Blessing (Numbers 6:22-27)
The Lord Speaks to Some in Dreams and Visions, to Moses Face to Face (Numbers 12:6-8)
The Budding of Aaron’s Rod (Numbers 17)
Micaiah’s Vision (1 Kings 22)
David’s Prayer (1 Chronicles 17:16-27)
Psalm 69: David’s Prayer for Help in the Midst of Persecution
Psalm 109: David’s Prayer to God as He Stands Before Accusers
Psalm 110: The Priest of Melchizedek at the Right Hand of God
Daniel’s Vision of the Son of God (Daniel 7:13-14)
Daniel’s Prayer and Vision of Temple and Messiah (Daniel 9: 1-19 and 20-27)
The Prayer of Azariah in the Fiery Furnace and His Song of Praise
Mordechai’s Prophetic Dream (Greek Esther 10:4-13)
A Prayer of Thanksgiving for Deliverance from Death (Sirach 51:1-12)
The Prophecy of the Coming Priest (The Testament of Levi)
The Priest in the Order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 5 and 7)
Zechariah’s Vision About His Son John (To Be Called The Baptist) (Luke 1:5-17)
Jesus’ Prayer in Gethsemane, His Arrest, and His Confrontation by Caiaphas the High Priest (Mark 14:32-51 and 53-72; Luke 22:39-53 and 54-71)
Caiaphas’ Dream of the Messiah
[After Lazarus is resurrected by Jesus in front of many who were there….]
Therefore, many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.
But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.
Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin. “What are we accomplishing?” they asked. “Here is this man performing many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.”
Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, “You know nothing at all! You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.” He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one. So, from that day on they plotted to take his life.
Therefore, Jesus no longer moved about publicly among the people of Judea. Instead he withdrew to a region near the wilderness, to a village called Ephraim, where he stayed with his disciples. When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, many went up from the country to Jerusalem for their ceremonial cleansing before the Passover. They kept looking for Jesus, and as they stood in the temple courts they asked one another, “What do you think? Isn’t he coming to the festival at all?”
But the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that anyone who found out where Jesus was should report it so that they might arrest him.
Jesus’ Prayer in Gethsemane, His Arrest, and His Confrontation by Caiaphas the High Priest
They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.”
Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”
Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping.
“Simon,” he said to Peter, “are you asleep? Couldn’t you keep watch for one hour? Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Once more he went away and prayed the same thing.
When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. They did not know what to say to him.
Returning the third time, he said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”
Just as he was speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, appeared. With him was a crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders.
Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him and lead him away under guard.”
Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Rabbi!” and kissed him.
The men seized Jesus and arrested him.
Then one of those standing near drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear.
“Am I leading a rebellion,” said Jesus, “that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? Every day I was with you, teaching in the temple courts, and you did not arrest me. But the Scriptures must be fulfilled.”
Then everyone deserted him and fled. A young man, wearing nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus. When they seized him, he fled naked, leaving his garment behind.
They took Jesus to the high priest, and all the chief priests, the elders and the teachers of the law came together.
Peter followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. There he sat with the guards and warmed himself at the fire.
The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death, but they did not find any. Many testified falsely against him, but their statements did not agree. Then some stood up and gave this false testimony against him: “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with human hands and in three days will build another, not made with hands.’” Yet even then their testimony did not agree.
Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?”
But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer.
Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?”
“I am,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
The high priest tore his clothes. “Why do we need any more witnesses?” he asked. “You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?
”They all condemned him as worthy of death.
Then some began to spit at him; they blindfolded him, struck him with their fists, and said, “Prophesy!” And the guards took him and beat him.
While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came by. When she saw Peter warming himself, she looked closely at him. “You also were with that Nazarene, Jesus,” she said.
But he denied it. “I don’t know or understand what you’re talking about,” he said, and went out into the entryway.
When the servant girl saw him there, she said again to those standing around, “This fellow is one of them.”
Again he denied it.
After a little while, those standing near said to Peter, “Surely you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.”
He began to call down curses, and he swore to them, “I don’t know this man you’re talking about.”
Immediately the rooster crowed the second time. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows twice you will disown me three times.” And he broke down and wept.
Image Exegesis: The Tragedy of Caiaphas
“Then the Spirit of God came on Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood before the people and said, “This is what God says: ‘Why do you disobey the Lord’s commands? You will not prosper. Because you have forsaken the Lord, he has forsaken you.’” (2 Chronicles 24:20)
“Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, and he blessed Abram, saying, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. And praise be to God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand. (Genesis 14:18-20)
This week’s scriptures encompass Jesus’ lowest moment in the scriptures, when he is about to face his death, and his initial “trial” of the Sanhedrin, meeting secretly in the quarters of Annas and Caiaphas.
At Jesus’ lowest moment in the Garden of Gethsemane, when he’s so stressed that he is sweating blood, he continually asks his disciples just to be with him, but none of them will.
As he is arrested, they all flee.
They miss perhaps the most important moment in their discipleship when Jesus needs them to be with him.
Missing the mark. It’s the concept in Judaism that refers to sin. And it’s rampant in these scripture stories.
But never so much as in the character of Caiaphas, High Priest of Israel.
What does it mean to miss the mark?
Someone who misses a punch line? A guy who misses a girl’s hints and a romance is doomed? A man who receives an important message but cannot read it/decipher it? Perhaps, but even more tragic is missing a message from God. OR….receiving a message from God, and entirely missing what to do with it.
Tragic flaw. It’s the word in Greek tragedy for a hero, who is powerful, wealthy, or even in love, but tragically does something horrible that will completely ruin his life and others, without realizing it at the time. Only later will the truth of the error come to his consciousness. But it will be too late. And he will be ruined.
Theatre was popular in the first century, especially in the large cities, and Jerusalem was one of those extremely Hellenized cities.
Most devout Jews scorned theatre as immoral. But many of the Jewish wealthy aristocrats attended, as it was the prominent thing to do.
But Greek theatre had other underpinnings. Based on a tribute to dionysos, the god of theatre, the tragedy in particular was linked to the ritual sacrifice of goats to dionysos. Trag-odia meant in fact “goat song.”
And it is this metaphor that becomes interesting in the person of Caiaphas.
Greek tragedy had a number of “rules” of engagement. According to the Greeks, only someone who had reached a high and exalted position could truly experience tragedy. The greater the elevation, the greater the fall.
First century Jerusalem was at the height of its influence and prestige. And the priestly class was at the top. Caiaphas the High Priest, although he served the Temple according to tradition, loved Hellenized Jerusalem. And he loved keeping peace with the Romans, his prestige and position, even more.
Greek theatre was played by using masks. “Hypocrite” in fact was a theatre word that referred to the donning of masks in order to take on the character of another. Jesus would use this Greek word to describe the priests and some of the Pharisees.
The word describes Caiaphas to the max. In a sense, Caiaphas wore the mask of the High Priest, but while serving his own interests.
High Priest…ever since Aaron, a designation that meant one who serves as an intermediary between YHWH and the Jewish people, one who could receive message on behalf of the people from God, and one who could make atonement to God for the people.
Aaron, Eleazar, Zadok,…..Eli…..Ezra…..the priests under the Maccabees….all the way to Hycanus II all were decendants of Levites, descendants of Aaron. That is, until the Romans took over. From then, the position of high priest became a political pawn in a larger Roman plan to keep the people at bay.
Some references say that the High Priests still received oracles through the first century. Others claim that the oracle stones, the urim and thummim, were lost, along with the ark and other Temple treasures in the second Temple period.
What is the Urim and Thummim? These were two mystical stones secreted inside the pocket of the breastplate worn by the High Priest. These were used to elicit answers to questions regarding the Jewish people that only God would answer to the High Priest.
“The breastplate was actually made of two pieces, which formed a sort of purse, or bag, in which also was kept the two sacred stones, named the Urim (representing light and excellence) and the Thummim (representing perfection and completion). These stones were some divinely appointed instruments by which the High Priest inquired of God about matters concerning the welfare of the Children of Israel. The Bible makes several references to these miraculous stones, but not anything physical, like the shape or size.
They were probably two jewels.
When someone had to make an important decision, the request was made known to the high priest. He would stand before the lampstand near the altar, holding the Urim in one hand and the Thummin in the other. As the light from the candle reflected from the Urim and the Thummin onto the stones of the Breastplate, this flash of light provided up to 24 combinations (2 x 12). Since there are 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet, the flashes of light could produce strings of letters. It was said that God breathed through the wind, which in turn causes the veil to move, permitting a breeze to flicker the flames in the Lampstand to momentarily alter the angle of direction of the light onto the Urim and Thummin, and thence to the Breastplate. Thus God was able to communicate directly, but not audibly, to the high priest and answer the enquiry.”
Even the High Priest’s clothing was considered holy. Whatever the personality of the high priest, putting on these clothes, ensured the purity and communicability necessary for God’s revelation and message. The High Priest’s clothing in fact had metaphorical meaning for atonement itself:
“The tunic, which covers most of the priest's body, atones for killing.
The pants atone for sexual transgressions.
The turban, worn on the head, atone for haughtiness.
The belt, wound about the body and worn over the heart, atones for "sins of the heart" - improper thoughts.
The breastplate atones for errors in judgment.
The ephod atones for idolatry.
The robe atones for evil speech.
The High Priest's crown atones for arrogance.”
But in addition to the simple answers gained from the urim and thummim, the High Priest could also receive visions or dreams (oracles) from God, prophet messages from God. These would sometimes need interpretation, sometimes not. These would then be given to the people.
In Daniel 8, the high priest has a dream of a goat with a single horn that later is attributed by Josephus to Alexander and the Empire of the Greeks.
High Priest John Hyrcanus had a vision of who would be his heir (Josephus).
Enoch had a vision of 70 Shepherds.
Jacob, Ben Sira, the Book of Jubilees all attest to the vision of High Priests, whose prophetic ability came from the glory of his vestments and whose “wisdom” was used to “enlighten” Israel. These oracles (logion) were on behalf of the people (all of the tribes of Israel were engraved into the stones on his breastplate), as he represents the “people” of God.
It’s very interesting therefore that in Caiaphas’ vision, he asserts that Jesus will gather all of God’s people and make them one. This is typical also of former oracles by prophets and priests in the Hebrew scriptures. This divine declaration, or incarnation, or revelation however is mistaken by Caiaphas.
In a sense, he “misses the mark” deciding that if this man will die for the sins of others, then he has leeway to “sentence” him to death.
Little does he realize, Jesus IS the oracle, the divine incarnation. And in sentencing Jesus to death, he severs his relationship with God. From then on, the only High Priest will be Jesus, in the order of Melchizedek.
While some metaphors are inherent in the text, such as cup, Passover, and the priestly garb, others are “hidden” metaphors, such as the breastplate, stones, oracle, and goat.
There is so much depth and richness to the character of Caiaphas –and so much tragedy!
* Temple Institute; My Jewish Learning