The examination before Annas:After Y‘shua had been arrested, John tells us that they ―led him away to Annas first; for he was father in law
to Caiaphas, which was the high priest that same year.‖ (John 18:13.)
There is nothing surprising about Y‘shua being brought before Annas rather than Caiaphas. He was the
heart of the family, and by the Jewish law, still High Priest. The house of Annas derived much of its wealth
from the business side of the Temple. Y‘shua had just overturned the Temple stalls, which were the property
of Annas and his family. No doubt Annas use his influence to arrange that Y‘shua be brought to him to
answer for this.
While the Jewish law is different from the western law, the examination of Y‘shua before Annas appears to
have been a preliminary examination. Strictly speaking, this was illegal; for Jewish law provided the strict
safeguards for the accused, in that he could not be asked about his offence until formally charged. One
curious feature of legal procedure in the Sanhedrin was that the man involved was held to be absolutely
innocent, and indeed not even on trial, until the evidence of the witnesses had been stated and confirmed.
The argument about the case could only begin when the testimony of the witness was given and confirmed.
Bearing this in mind, we can see how the examination before Annas proceeded. Annas began by
questioning Y‘shua about his disciples and teaching. Perhaps he wished to insinuate that Y‘shua and the
disciples were revolutionaries, plotting against the existing government.
Y‘shua does not mention the disciples in his reply. He is clearly determined to protect them, for He replies:
(20) ―I spake openly to the world; I ever taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, whither the Jews
always resort; and in secret have I said nothing.
(21) Why askest thou me? ask them which heard me, what I have said unto them: behold, they know
what I said.
(22) And when he had thus spoken, one of the officers which stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his
hand, saying, Answerest thou the high priest so?‖ (John 18:20-22)
That is the point of the conversation between Y‘shua and Annas. Y‘shua in that incident was reminding
Annas that he had no right to ask him anything until the evidence of the witness had been taken and found to
agree. When Y‘shua said this, one of the officials near by struck him in the face, saying is that the way to
answer the High Priest? This assault was quit illegal but it should not surprise us. Those proceedings were
all tainted with illegality.
Y‘shua then defends himself by inviting this man to give evidence of any evil that he has spoken. ―If I have
spoken wrongly, testify to the wrong‖ (John 18:23.) At this stage, Annas quite wrongly concluded that there
was a sufficient case to bring Y‘shua on trial before Caiaphas the High Priest. The preliminary examination,
inadequate as it was, had ended. Then Annas sent him (still bound) to Caiaphas the High Priest.
The trial before Caiaphas and the SanhedrinCaiaphas was the son-in-law of Annas, the current High Priest and thus the most important man in the
Jewish nation. In a unique way, he was not only the religious leader of the Jews, but also their political and
judicial head. Just as during the Roman occupation, the procurator represented the Jewish nation.
As such, he was responsible to the Roman procurator for the good order and discipline of the Jews.
Josephus (writer in the First Century A.D.) gives us the details of the origin of the high office...
―History informs us that Aaron, the brother of Moses, officiated to God as a high priest, and that, after his
death, his sons succeeded him immediately; and that this dignity has been continued down from them all to
their posterity. Whence it is the custom of the Jews that no one should take the high priesthood of God, but
he who is the blood of Aaron, while everyone that is of another stock, though he were a king, can never
obtain that high priesthood.‖
The High Priest was the supreme judge in Israel. Moses had presided over the seventy elders, so the High
Priest also presided over the greater Sanhedrin of seventy.
No one in Israel was allowed to disobey the orders of the High Priest. His authority was supreme and could
not be denied. In the time of seventy, the office of High Priest was in the hands of the Sadducees; who were