Annas was appointed by the Roman legate Quirinius as the first High Priest of the newly formed Roman province of Judaea in 6 AD; just after the Romans had deposed Archelaus, Ethnarch of Judaea, thereby putting Judaea directly under Roman rule. (Judaea is a historical term that refers to the Roman province that incorporated Judea, Samaria, and Galilee.)
The High Priest appointment was usually a lifetime deal; however, Annas was deposed by the Roman procurator Gratus for "imposing and executing capital sentences which had been forbidden by the imperial government." [wikipedia.com] Even though he was removed from the office, he remained a man of power, utilizing his five sons and son-in-law as "puppet" priests.
We don't know much about Annas on a personal level, although as a member of the Sanhedrin (probably their leader) we can discern much about his heart. The Sanhedrin were like a supreme court for the Jewish nation. There were local, smaller courts of 23 members; the great Sanhedrin contained 71 members. Their role was to handle criminal and civil matters.
According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, the council "had the exclusive right of judgment in matters of special importance, as for instance the case of a false prophet, accusations against the high priest, the sending out of an army in certain circumstances, the enlarging of the city of Jerusalem, or of the Temple courts, etc.; the few instances mentioned in the New Testament exemplify the cases to which the competency of the Sanhedrin extended; in short, all religious matters and all civil matters not claimed by Roman authority were within its attributions; and the decisions issued by its judges were to be held inviolable."
I explain all this because the Sanhedrin had become an enemy to Christ; they had slipped from unbelief to declaring war on him and his cause. What they didn't understand was that by doing that, they were declaring war on the very God who created them!
We must be careful to not quickly and easily dismiss people, their thoughts and their causes, as they come our way. We must judge them, not in an eternal sense, but through the wisdom of the Bible. God could be sending someone to us, to challenge, edify, or encourage. But if we aren't listening, if we aren't ready, we could miss God's message to us.
Annas wasn't available to hear God's message. He had already decided Jesus' fate, long before Jesus was brought to him. Not much is said about what happened to Jesus in front of Annas, simply that Annas sent him on to the current High Priest, Caiaphas.
But that tells us a lot. Apparently he didn't question, didn't listen, wasn't ready. Wasn't interested at all.
John writes of a plot by the high priests to kill Lazarus. His resurrection was pulling many Jews from "their" side, to Christ. Annas would have certainly been a conspirator of that plot. And, according to 19th century scholars, there is some thought that the parable of the rich man and Lazarus is a concealed reference to Annas (see wikipedia.com). They cite the references to the rich man's five sons, his evil heart, and the reference to Lazarus himself.
When we study to understand Annas' heart, we also understand the mockery of this so-called trial. A trial is a vehicle to get to the truth. And no one was really interested in the truth.
What about you? If your heart was inspected, would your life be a mockery? Or is the truth of your heart the same as the truth of your life?
Don't be like Annas. Be ready to listen, to hear from God. Be ready to see the truth, standing right in front of you.
No comments:
Post a Comment