I Appeal To Caesar!

P. 10 “The Way”: John 14:6; Acts 9:2; 18:26; 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:14, 22. The followers of Jesus and His teachings who make up the Christian Community. Hebrews 10:19, 20; 2 Peter 2:2. P. 12 “ Where was the high priest’s palace or house?” asks Raymond Brown. “The local tradition of Jerusalem began to distinguish between the ‘house of Annas’ and the ‘house of Caiaphas’; previously no attention had been paid to where Annas lived…. A host of scholars argue that Annas and Caiaphas lived in different wings of the same palace” (emphasis added), Ibid., p. 404. P. 14 Why choose a Pharisee? Since Caiaphas was a Sadducee, it might seem strange that he would want a Pharisee to oversee the Purge. Put simply, Caiaphas felt that a Pharisee would serve his purpose best in intimidating and entrapping Jesus. First, consider that “The Sadducees were the liberals of Judaism at this time, embracing many Hellenistic ideas, favoring a policy of internationalism …. They considered themselves the rightful rulers of the nation. Through control of the temple worship they had control of the temple riches. They were the aristocrats and seemed to the Pharisees to be worldly-minded and lacking in real religious conviction. They were not so numerous as the Pharisees but seem to have been almost equally powerful. The common run of priests probably were not Sadducees” (Elmer W. K. Mould). “In contrast, the Pharisees were in better touch with the common people, emphasizing a strict adherence to the Mosaic Law. They believed in immortality, physical resurrection and the existence of spirits, reward and punishment in the future life. They felt the attitude of the heart is less vital than the outward act. “Josephus, who was himself a Pharisee, describes them as not merely accepting the Law of Moses, and interpreting it more skillfully than others, but adds that they had delivered to the people a great many observances by succession from the fathers which are not written in the law of Moses … which our Lord pronounced to be of no binding authority (Matt. 15:2, 3, 6)” (H. S. Gehman). Wilbur M. Smith, Peloubet’s Select Notes, 1949 , pp. 2, 3.