Before we get too far into A.D.: The Bible Continues, I think it’s time to say this publicly, before events happen that may change my mind: I’m rooting for Caiaphas.
This always happens. Early on in season 3 of LOST, I felt myself pulling for the evil Ben Linus. I could see the internal struggles going on, and I was really hoping he would find the redemption he so badly needed. The same goes for Raymond Reddington on The Blacklist. Pretty much since early in season 1 when he went to town torturing the kidnapper who had done the same to his FBI friend Elizabeth Keen, I’ve been pulling for Ray to capitalize on the good I know is inside him.
But this is Caiaphas, the high priest who had Jesus arrested, tried him illegally, and pleaded for Pilate to give him the death sentence. How could I be rooting for him now?
Maybe it’s because God is. (Or was, I suppose, since he’s dead. But since I’m mostly referring to the portrayal of Caiaphas on A.D., let’s stick with “is.” Humor me, please.)
It was made clear in the first two episodes that Caiaphas is indeed a devout Jew. In the first episode, he stops momentarily outside the temple and prays alone, “To you, Lord, I call. You are my rock. . . . Hear my cry for mercy.” Again in the second episode, he is praying while alone, “God, you are the hope of Israel. And all who forsake you shall be ashamed. . . . Protect me from my enemies.” And though, at least in the first instance, Caiaphas happens to be praying in public, he still seems to be (unknowingly, of course) adhering to Jesus’ admonition in Matthew 6 of, “When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. . . . But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. . . . And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words” (vv. 5–8). No, A.D.’s Caiaphas does not strike me as a fake or showy priest who only tries to look religious when others are looking.
And in this third episode of A.D., we find a Caiaphas (along with his wife) who is extremely concerned for the widows and orphans left behind from Pilate’s slaughtering of the priests who had witnessed the resurrection. God’s Word, both Old and New Testament, is filled with verses making clear God’s expectations for how his children should respond to these in need, including James 1:27: “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”
Yes, the Caiaphas in A.D. prays to God when alone, not only in public when others can see him, and he concerns himself with providing for widows and orphans (offering to all of them a year’s wages each year until the children are old enough to provide for the family). Hence the internal dilemma of rooting for the man who only days earlier had arrested, tried, and put to death Jesus.
But are his crimes worse than mine? Are they worse than yours? How about Peter’s? I believe it’s no coincidence that this most recent episode ended with Peter and Caiaphas staring at each other through a jail cell. Back and forth the camera shifted. Caiaphas then Peter. Back to Caiaphas. Then Peter again. Not long before, Peter shared with his daughter in the Upper Room after she asked him if he was afraid, “I am. Not of the Romans or the priests. I’m afraid I may not be the person that Jesus thinks I am.”
But there’s nothing to be afraid of Peter. You are exactly that person. Yes, you are the person who grew afraid in the storm and took your eyes off of Jesus. Yes, you are the person who ran away when Jesus was arrested. Yes, you are the person who denied even knowing him. And yet, yes, you are the person whom Jesus entrusted so many things with, most importantly leading the charge of the first disciples spreading the news of Christ. Despite all your faults, you are exactly who Jesus thinks you are. You are the person who has been saved by his grace.
And the same goes for Caiaphas. He, too, as another creation of God, is exactly who Jesus thinks he is. No one, in fact, knows Caiaphas more. And yet, despite his crimes, is he too not capable of being saved by God’s grace?
Of course he is. Just like Peter. Just like you and me. (And just like Ben Linus and Raymond Reddington.)
I’m not a historian. I don’t know if there is definite documentation on what happened to Caiaphas after his time in Jerusalem. It’s quite possible that he died an angry, unchanged, bitter man who never believed that the man he had crucified rose from the dead. But I know that I’m rooting for the Caiaphas in A.D. I see his love for God in how he prays. I see how he loves widows and orphans just as Jesus loves them and asks us to do the same. I see his similarities to Peter. To me. To all the millions of viewers watching. But will he—will they?—let Jesus change him as Peter and I have?
To be determined.
Kevin Harvey is the author of two books, his latest entitled All You Want to Know about the Bible in Pop Culture, available now at Barnes and Noble, Walmart, Sam’s Club, and Amazon.
The Bible in Pop Culture 