John 18:14

14 Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it was advantageous that one man should die for the people.^[a]

John 18:14 Meaning and Commentary

John 18:14

Now Caiaphas was he which gave council to the Jews
The chief priests and Pharisees, who met in council about Jesus, ( John 11:47-52 ) , the counsel he gave was,

that it was expedient that one man should die for the people;
and which advice was given out of ill will and malice to Christ, and to prevent, as he thought, the people of the Jews being destroyed by the Romans; though the words have a very good sense which he did not understand. The people Christ was to die for, was not all the, people of the world, nor only the people of the Jews, nor all of them; but all the elect of God, whom God has chosen for his special and peculiar people, and has given to Christ as such: these Christ were to die for, and did, not merely as a martyr, to confirm his doctrine to them, or as an example to teach them meekness, patience, and courage, but in the room and stead of them, as a surety for them; and it was expedient that he should, in such sense, die for them, because of his suretyship engagements, that he might make satisfaction to the law and justice of God, and procure the salvation of his people, and send forth the Spirit to make application of it to them.

John 18:14 In-Context

12 Then the company of soldiers, the commander, and the Jewish temple police arrested Jesus and tied Him up.

13 First they led Him to Annas, for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year.

14 Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it was advantageous that one man should die for the people.

15 Meanwhile Simon Peter was following Jesus, as was another disciple. That disciple was an acquaintance of the high priest; so he went with Jesus into the high priest's courtyard.

16 But Peter remained standing outside by the door. So the other disciple, the one known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the girl who was the doorkeeper and brought Peter in.

Footnotes

• [a]. Jn 11:50