Matthew 26:1-5 When Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said to his disciples, 2 "You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified." 3 Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, 4 and plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. 5 But they said, "Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people."
Matthew begins his passion narrative in chapter 26 of his gospel, and we are faced with some comparisons. We see the comparison of Jesus willingly going to the cross while the Chief Priests and Elders secretly meet to plot his death. We see the comparison of a woman who spares no expense in her affection for Jesus with the disciples who see her gesture as a waste. One other comparison we see is not so noticeable but can be considered nonetheless. We see a man who has taken on the role of a High Priest when he possibly shouldn’t with the One who is the true High Priest and the fulfillment of everything that this role means.
Caiaphas, the High priest of the time, was High Priest from 18-36AD. Caiaphas was the son-in-law to Annas who was the previous High Priest but not yet dead. Were there two High Priests? In short answer, “kind of, yes.” In Luke 3:2 and Acts 4:6, Luke mentions both Caiaphas and Annas as the High Priests and in connection with the high priestly family. The problem with this is that the role of a High Priest was to be a role for life succeeded only be death. Annas was out of favor with the Romans, and so while many Jews would still consider him the High Priest, Caiaphas his son-in-law was the officially appointed High Priest accepted by Rome. As this was never meant to be the proper appointment for a High Priest, perhaps this was why Jesus was first taken to Annas before standing before Caiaphas when he was arrested (John 18).
In the first five verses of Matthew 26, Matthew describes two separate meetings. There is a meeting outside Jerusalem between Jesus and his disciples, and there is a meeting that takes place at Caiaphas’ palace in Jerusalem. In one meeting Jesus describes his death that will end the Old Covenant role of the High Priest forever. In the other meeting, the High Priest seems to be plotting the death of Jesus with the Jewish leadership. By killing Jesus, Caiaphas will unwittingly end a role that he should never have been in to start with. By killing Jesus in just a few days, Jesus will fulfill the role of the Old Covenant Priesthood by taking on himself the sin of humanity. Through his sacrifice he will bear the punishment for sin as the One True Mediator between God and man. Through Christ only and forever, God’s wrath upon sin will be appeased and forgiveness bestowed to all who trust in Jesus.
The comparison between the pre-ordained Great High Priest who truly deals with sin and the wrongly appointed High Priest who plots in his own sin is extraordinary. In one meeting the doubtful High Priest is more worried about the safety of his own position and not causing an uproar. In the other meeting the Great High Priest is selflessly describing his upcoming death for the salvation of his people.
As we consider this comparison, it reminds us of the stunning passages in Hebrews that direct us toward the wonder of Christ’s pre-eminence in his fulfillment of the high priestly role. Hebrews 9:11-15 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) 12 he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. 15 Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.