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      "Utilizing Crooked Leadership"
      John 18:12-14
      Theme: God’s purpose of providing salvation overrules all obstacles.

        1. God Can Use Authority That Is Callused – 18:12

          1. The Inflexibility of Their Attitudes

            1. In the previous section, we noticed the tenderness of Christ in confirming His awareness of what He faced, authority that He possessed, and the affection for His followers.
            2. He even demonstrated His power to create by graciously and tenderly healing the severed ear of Malchus – cp. Luke 22:51
            3. Despite these manifest demonstrations of His divine authority, those who came to arrest Him remained unmoved in their attitudes of hostility toward Him.
            4. They responded to His glory and grace with hostility – "So the Roman cohort and the commander and the officers of the Jews, arrested Jesus and bound Him."
            5. Notice the party described here – Romans (Gentiles) & officers of the Jews (Jews) – the blindness of sinners is not limited to a particular race, nation, or category of people – all are equally affected by sin - cp. Romans 3:9ff; 2 Corinthians 4:4

          2. The Irony of the Arrest

            1. We are told that they "arrested Jesus and bound Him" – a tragic irony.
            2. The One who came to give men freedom from sin is bound because of their sinful rejection of Him.
            3. Jesus had proven to be a difficult man to apprehend – in previous situations He had merely slipped away – cp. Luke 4:29-30; John 8:59
            4. Judas had warned of this ability and charged the Romans to "seize Him" – cp. Matthew 26:48
            5. One other issue that ought to be raised here – the symbolic nature of Jesus’ fulfillment of the OT types anticipating the "Lamb of God" – the sacrifices were bound before they were offered – Genesis 22:9; Psalm 118:27.

        2. God Can Use Authority That Is Corrupt – 18:13a

          1. The Indication of Infidelity to God

            1. What we next read is somewhat confusing – "… and led Him to Annas first; for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was the high priest that year."
            2. However, later Annas is referred to as the High Priest – cp. John 18:19
            3. To make the matter even more enigmatic, there is a reference to Annas and Caiaphas both being High Priest – cp. Luke 3:2
            4. In order to understand the confusion, it is necessary to understand that Rome had imposed itself upon the leadership of Israel and had deposed the legitimate High Priest (Annas) in AD 15 and had assumed the right to bestow the position upon different individuals on a yearly basis.
              1. It is evident that the life-long tenure for the High Priest was being violated – cp. Exodus 40:15; Numbers 35:25
              2. It had become a position that could be "purchased" to the person who would provide loyalty to Rome and give the greatest financial "contribution"
              3. Thus, it was an annual appointment – cp. "who was high priest that year" – cp. Acts 4:6
            5. Thus, to the Jews, Annas was the legitimate High Priest, but according to the official office established and approved by Rome, Caiaphas was the one who possessed the authority.
            6. Since the sacrifice offered for sin had to be brought to the High Priest, Jesus was brought to Annas who was the man who rightfully filled the office – cp. Leviticus 17:5
            7. Annas was the man who possessed the influence and had insured that his family had remained seated in the position of the High Priest, purchasing these positions and yielding to the will of Rome (cp. Caiaphas’ concern about offending Rome below).

          2. The Instigation of Ill-Will toward Christ

            1. Another issue ought to be brought up – the reason for Annas’ and Caiaphas’ antipathy toward Jesus.
            2. As Annas’ family remained in office, they had established a tremendously corrupt monopoly of the Temple concessions where suitable lambs were provided for worshippers to offer to God.
              1. Any sacrifice offered in the Temple had to be brought the the High Priest and approved as without spot or blemish.
              2. Of course, the High Priest who is corrupt would disapprove of any lamb he chose and would require that one of the "approved" lambs he had available be purchased instead.
              3. The price charged for such a lamb was inordinate because there was not competition (the High Priest was the only one who could approve the lambs).
              4. In addition to this, pilgrims coming to worship had to use special Temple coins to purchase these lambs which was made available at unreasonable exchange rates.
              5. Thus, almost every lamb brought was disqualified, too much was charged for a lamb, too much was charged in coin exchange, and lambs that were disqualified were most likely confiscated and absorbed into the fold from where the "approved" lambs would ultimately be sold
            3. On two separate occasions, Jesus had confronted this racket – cleansing the temple at the beginning and ending of His ministry – cp. John 2:13-17; Matthew 21:12-13
            4. Thus, Annas saw Jesus as a threat in two ways:
              1. He might cause Rome to remove his family from office and He wanted to get rid of that threat.
              2. His teachings and activities threatened his financial machine – discrediting the process by calling them "thieves"
            5. Thus, the High Priest establishment couldn’t be more eager to be rid of Jesus; but, God was using them to fulfill His purpose of providing a sacrifice for the sins of the world.

        3. God Can Use Authority That Is Calculating - 18:13b-14

          1. The Illegitimacy of Purchasing Priestly Privileges

            1. We’ve already indicated that Caiaphas had been seated in the position of Rome’s puppet in the High Priesthood because of his willingness to "pay and play" – "… Caiaphas, who was high priest that year."
            2. Caipahas possessed no spiritual authority or biblical right to exercise any authority at all – his authority was granted from a pagan government alone.
            3. Therefore, he possessed no spiritual priorities – but was merely a business man who was the CEO of the monopoly – running things for his father-in-law’s mafia like family
            4. It is for this reason that John barely mentions the trial of Jesus by Caiaphas – merely referring to the fact that He was sent to Caiaphas by Annas – cp. v. 24

          2. The Intention of Preserving Personal Priorities

            1. Again, Caiaphas’ priority was the preservation of the corporate health of their operation.
            2. As Jesus’ popularity grew and came to a zenith, Caiaphas had proposed that they eliminate Jesus – only a week or so before these events – cp. John 11:47-53
            3. Therefore, Caiaphas declared that Jesus should die in order to avoid the wrath of Rome and deliver them to the serenity of continued wealth – "Now Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it was expedient for one man to die on behalf of the people."
            4. However, His declaration was actually used by God as a prophecy of Jesus’ spiritual accomplishment of dying to satisfy the wrath of God and deliver them to the serenity of peace with God – Romans 5:6-8.

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