Caiaphas' House - "what pains he had to bear"

We were in Jerusalem and we made our way to the Church of St Peter in Gallicantu ("St Peter at the crowing of the cock").

This church has been built on the site of what is believed to have been the house of Caiaphas, who was high priest at the time of Jesus’ trial (Matthew 26.57). A large mural behind the altar features Christ before his accusers.

Underneath the building were found store-rooms and a dungeon. A doorway has now been cut through the stone, to make it easy for ordinary people to enter the dungeon. But, looking up, we see the hole in the solid stone roof of the dungeon. It is big enough for a prisoner to be lowered through. Electricity now enables us to see, but for the prisoner of old there was only darkness and no hope of escape.

Was Jesus ever held in this dungeon in the course of his trial by the Jewish council, the Sanhedrin?

The old hymn says,

    We may not know, we cannot tell,
    what pains he had to bear,
    but we believe it was for us
    he hung and suffered there.

From there he was taken up the ancient steps to Pilate’s judgment seat.

Beneath the Ecce Homo Convent of the Sisters of Sion, an ancient pavement has been found. For many years it was said to be the actual pavement (lithostrotos) on which Jesus stood before Pilate. It is now acknowledged to be part of Hadrian’s construction of the new Roman city of Aeolis Capitolina a hundred years later.

The paving stones are believed to have come from the Roman Fortress of Antonia which overlooked the Temple area. The marks on the stone are part of a game the soldiers would play with condemned prisoners – "king for a day."

That’s where Jesus was mocked, flogged and crowned with thorns as "King of the Jews."

But he endured more than physical pain. One of his closest friends – so full of confidence that he would stand by him, even if it meant death – had followed at a distance. But, when pressed, Peter denied that he knew or was associated with Jesus.

"Just as [Peter] was speaking, the rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: ‘Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.’ And he went outside and wept bitterly" (Luke 22.60b-62).

"The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter... " Surely, apart from the crucifixion itself and all that implied, this denial by his closest friend must have been the greatest "pain he had to bear"- not the dungeon (if he was ever there), not the scheming of enemies, not the mockery and flogging by the soldiers, not the weakness of Pilate or the fickleness of the crowd... All of these were incidents along the way to the cross on which the victim became the Redeemer - paying the price of sin and praying forgiveness "for they know not what they are doing" (23.34) to be available for all who would believe.

And today he feels most deeply, not our "slip-ups", but our betrayals, our denials... That’s one reason why "he always lives to intercede for [us]" (Hebrews 7.25b) - so that our lives will clearly and consistently reveal his character and will.

PRAYER: Lord, when you catch our eye, we know we have done it again. In spite of great claims of loyalty and allegiance, we have failed to live out the lives to which you have called us. Help us to know that we can only live on the basis of your forgiving and redeeming grace. Like David, we would say, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." Enable us to show all those we meet today your character and grace and love. In Jesus' name, Amen.

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