Caiphas, the high priest, thought he was just doing the “right thing” by looking out for the welfare of his people, said,
“It is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.”
John 11:50
Now, on one hand, that any religious professional should suggest that it’s good that someone should die is messed up. It seems like there has to be something crooked in a human heart to suggest death as any kind of solution.
On the other hand, he understood something about the viciousness of Rome, and what they would do to the entire Jewish population if they were perceived to be aligning themselves with a new king (being Jesus of Nazareth). So he’s not entirely wrong. It’s hard to blame him.
On the other other hand, Caiaphas was more true than he realized, yet was still only speaking a fraction of the truth. When he says, “You know nothing at all,” he might as well be talking to himself as well. When he says, “you do not realize,” he might as well be saying, “I do not realize.” The levels of both irony and prophetic insight here are amazing.
Yes, it would be better for Jesus to die for the people rather than many other people die. But this was not only to be on behalf of the Jewish nation, but every nation.
Sometimes even the most unlikely of individuals might speak as an unwitting prophet.
