Did High Priest Caiaphas Convert?

By Nigel Tomes

Caiaphas—the leading Antagonist

Caiaphas, the Jewish High Priest, played a prominent role in Jesus’ crucifixion. It was Caiaphas who sacrificed Christ in the interests of “expediency.” He declared “it’s expedient …that one man [Jesus] die …and not the whole [Jewish] nation perish” (John 11:50). His words were prophetic, but prophecy wasn’t Caiaphas’ intention.  This was Caiaphas’ pragmatic solution—Jesus’ soaring popularity risked heavy-handed Roman military intervention. So why not eliminate Jesus and maintain the status quo? As leading Sadducees in that status quo Caiaphas’ family enjoyed the wealth, power, position and prestige.

Caiaphas was also an activist, leading the campaign against Christ. In a Sanhedrin’s “kangaroo court,” Caiaphas seized the initiative, asking Jesus, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed [God]”? Jesus affirmed, “I am.” That was Caiaphas’ “gotcha moment.” He tore his robes in outrage, proclaiming, “Who needs more witnesses? You heard his blasphemy. What’s your decision?” (Mark 14:63-64). Based on this “blasphemy,” the Jewish council condemned Jesus to death. The Roman governor, Pontius Pilate was then pressured into doing the council’s “dirty work”—crucifying Jesus. Later Caiaphas led the campaign to stamp out the infant church in Jerusalem (Acts 4:6). The Bible’s portrait of Caiaphas is clear—he was the foremost antagonist against Jesus Christ and the fledgling Christian Church.

Caiaphas—Archaeological Evidence

Last year two important archaeological announcements were made relating to Joseph Caiaphas (as historians call him). One was grounded in scientific research, the other sensational and speculative. As expected the former made mere ripples, the latter made waves in the news media. Let’s look at both.

The “Miriam Ossuary”—Grand-daughter of Caiaphas

In June 2011 the Israel Antiquities Authority announced they’d confirmed the authenticity of a 2,000-year-old burial box [ossuary] of a relative of the high priest Caiaphas. The ossuary was seized from tomb robbers who, Israeli authorities believe, plundered this artifact from a tomb in the Valley of Elah, SW of Jerusalem. The “bone box”–a stone coffin for bones–bore the inscription, "Miriam daughter of Yeshua [Joshua] son of Caiaphas, priest of Maaziah from Beth Imri." “The prime importance of the inscription,” say researchers, “lies in the reference to…the Caiaphas family...” The deceased, Miriam is identified as the daughter of Joshua, Caiaphas’ son, who is designated a priest of the order of Maaziah. Israeli scholars validated the inscription as “genuine and ancient” in the Israel Exploration Journal (Vol. 61). Here then is “concrete evidence” that the priestly family of Caiaphas lived in Jerusalem around the time of Jesus.

Toronto Film-maker has the “Nails of Jesus’ Cross”

The authentication of the “Miriam Ossuary,” belonging to Caiaphas’ grand-daughter, was not a major media event. It barely made a ripple in the news media. In contrast a media circus surrounded the sensational assertions of Toronto film-maker, Simcha Jacobovici, a few months earlier. It was a major media event, a “publicity stunt.” In April 2011 Jacobovici held a news conference in Jerusalem displaying two nails—“the Nails of the Cross”—which he claimed held the hands of Jesus to the cross during His crucifixion. In a Bloomberg News interview (April 12, 2011), Jacobovici asserted: “Do I know 100% that these nails were used to crucify Jesus? No,[but] I think we have a very compelling case to say: these are them.” The History Channel aired his movie, “The Nails of the Cross,” on Wed., April 20, 2011.

“The Caiaphas Family Tomb”

Where did the nails come from? Jacobovici alleged they came from the ossuary [bone box] of Caiaphas, the High Priest at Jesus’ trial. This “Caiaphas Ossuary” is different from the “Miriam Ossuary” discussed above. In 1990 workers on a construction project south of Jerusalem stumbled on a simple burial cave, dubbed “the Caiaphas Family Tomb,” dating back about 2,000 years.  Two ossuaries bore inscriptions possibly related to Caiaphas. One could be rendered “Joseph bar [son of] Caiaphas.” However, some scholars are skeptical because [1] the inscriptions don’t directly spell “Caiaphas” in Aramaic, although they are similar, [2] they don’t designate the artifact as belonging to a high priest and [3] the burial cave doesn’t match the grandeur of other High Priest’s tombs. An evaluation concludes that, “there is no way to know if the inscriptions refer to the biblical Caiaphas, or simply a similarly spelled name.” More importantly,Jacobovici’s sensational claims focus on the nails. There were nails found in the burial cave, used (perhaps) to make inscriptions. But the links connecting Jacobovici’s nails to Caiaphas and Jesus’ cross are highly speculative.

“No basis” in archaeology

The Israel Antiquities Authority responded to Jacobovici’s claims with a statement: “There is no doubt that… Jacobovici created an interesting film with a real archaeological find at its centre, but the interpretation presented in it has no basis in archaeological findings or research.”

“No proof whatsoever…those nails came from…Caiaphas”

Dr. Gabriel Barkay, an archaeologist at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University, states: “There is no proof whatsoever that those nails came from the cave of Caiaphas. There is no proof that the nails are connected to any bones or any bone residue attached to the nails and no proof from textual data that Caiaphas had the nails for the crucifixion with him …after Jesus was taken down from the cross.” Prof. Barley’s threefold declaration, “there is no proof…” points out the glaring gaps in the chain of evidence required to substantiate Jacobovici’s sensational claims.

Toronto Film-maker claims Caiaphas Converted

Why would Caiaphas want the nails from Jesus’ cross? Jacobovici believes that, after the crucifixion, Caiaphas converted. Allegedly Caiaphas didn’t go “whole hog,” becoming a Christian, but Jacobovici suggests he joined a Judeo-Christian movement which believed Jesus was the Messiah, but not God. It seems he wants to rehabilitate Caiaphas by moving him into the “middle ground” between Christianity and Judaism. Plus, Jacobovici asserts that after his death, Caiaphas’ family buried the nails with his bones because they thought the nails were a “charm,” possessing talismanic powers to protect Caiaphas in the afterlife!

Conclusion

It’s important to distinguish between fact and fiction, between probabilities based on evidence and mere speculative conjectures, lacking any factual basis. The recently- discovered “Miriam Ossuary” contains a reference to… the Caiaphas family, authenticated by Israeli scholars as “genuine and ancient.”  It provides “concrete evidence” of Caiaphas’ priestly heritage. The “Caiaphas Family Tomb” may also be linked to the biblical Caiaphas, but this linkage is contested. Then there are the “Nails of the Cross,” which Jacobovici claims were used to crucify Jesus and which suggest to him that Caiaphas subsequently accepted Jesus as the Messiah, but not God. No evidence was presented to substantiate these sensational claims. They are mere conjectures. They make good fiction movies, attract TV viewers, sell books, etc. But these speculations lack any solid basis in fact. There’s no evidence that Caiaphas converted, or that he ever accepted Christ as Messiah. The New Testament’s historical record tells us clearly that Caiaphas decisively rejected Jesus’ claims to the Christ, the Son of God. That’s why Caiaphas and company had Jesus crucified. Caiaphas has gone down in history as the leading antagonist of Jesus Christ and of the early church. No archaeological findings have changed that view.