THE GOSPEL OF CAIAPHAS

Austin presents a historical novel on the life of Caiaphas, a high priest of Israel who was portrayed in the New Testament as being involved in the plot to kill Jesus.

Joseph Caiaphas, the 10-year-old son of a temple guard named Abel, is a bright boy who’s “eager to learn, eager to please,” and has an impressive talent for memorizing passages from Scripture. But all is not well in ancient Israel, which is under the control of the Roman Empire—a situation that a group of Jewish rebels, known as the Zealots, openly oppose. Religious leaders have some sympathy with the Zealots, as many in the priesthood “had long suffered the indignity of having to share power with a rotating roster of Roman governors and kings.” When the Romans send legions from Syria with orders to stop a potential rebellion, violence quickly breaks out, and Abel dies in the scuffle. Joseph later marries a woman named Rivkah, and he becomes a “priest of Jerusalem, ready and willing to serve.” In due time, he ascends to the position of high priest, and he’s in charge when Jerusalem gets a new Roman governor named Pontius Pilate, whose insensitivity to local beliefs causes friction with the Jewish people. Around this time, a “troublemaker” from Galilee named Jesus also causes a stir. Austin’s novel effectively creates a full and detailed picture of Caiaphas’ time before, during, and after his infamous interactions with Jesus, particularly in his position as a religious leader; for instance, he’s shown to be the only one allowed to enter the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement, and he must perform such acts as sprinkling “the blood of the bull that had been sacrificed” in order to continue tradition. The account of his coming-of-age, however, feels overly lengthy and includes portions that don’t reveal much to the reader, such as how he enjoyed sitting on the roof with Rivkah. After Jesus enters the picture, though, the reader gets a fresh and insightful perspective on how Caiaphas’ instinct to always be “ready and willing to serve” led to some fateful decisions.

A dense but revealing look at a biblical figure.