Following a common strategy of presenting two extreme alternatives as if there were no other, Caiaphas persuaded the council to agree with his illogical argument that “either Christ dies, or we all die.” Perhaps intimidated by his power, the council consented to kill Jesus to save the nation, even though the nation was not in any real danger. Caiaphas was a hypocrite; he was suggesting murder under the guise of patriotism, but he was a phony; the real reason he wanted to get rid of Jesus was that He presented a threat to his popularity.
When Caiaphas spoke however, it was “not of himself; but, being the high priest that year ….” Ironically, the high priest was God’s spokesman, only in this case, Caiaphas was unaware that his words were an accurate prophecy. The very evil words uttered by Caiaphas were the same ones the Holy Spirit used to convey the truth of God. Using the evils of Satan to His own end, God was able to use Caiaphas’ own words to declare the atoning sacrificial death of Christ. Christ did indeed die for the nation that its people might not perish. Out of the degenerate mouth of an evil high priest came the truth of God. The words he uttered in blasphemy were transformed by God into a holy word of prophecy with a far deeper meaning, all without Caiaphas being in the slightest bit aware that He was speaking the truth of God. God can even take someone opposing His purposes and use him for His glory. He may use even the hatred of men to accomplish His holy purpose. Christ’s crucifixion is a perfect illustration of this – while it was the worst thing mankind could conceive of, yet it accomplished the greatest blessing on their behalf.
