The parallel passages are Mark 14:43-72 and Luke 22:54-65. Mark alone mentions the young man who had followed Jesus and His disciples to the Garden from a distance, and stayed just close enough to watch the whole thing. When the arresting party led Jesus away, someone spotted the young man and tried to grab him. It turns out the fellow was wrapped only in a bedsheet, and when the troops tried to grab him, all they got was the sheet; he fled naked. The common speculation is that this was Mark himself, since anyone who knew about this particular incident was almost certainly the victim.
Let’s take a moment to review the context. The Maccabean Period saw the High Priest rise in political authority in Judea; the Maccabees were priests. Once the royal family got entangled with the Edomite Herodians, the High Priest still had enough independent power that Rome demanded veto power over who could hold that office. When Rome deposed Archelaus, it was convenient to let the High Priest carry on some royal duties. The Roman Legate at that time chose Annas (AD 6). The next Roman Legate removed Annas from office nine years later, but could not take away his potent influence. Consider that Annas was originally vested at age 27 or so, so he lived quite a while longer.
Another man served briefly, then a son of Annas, followed by another man; these came and went quickly through the office. Things were unstable as several priestly families competed for power, until Annas’ son-in-law Caiaphas was vested in AD 18. He got along quite well with Rome, so remained in office until AD 36. He was followed by four more sons of Annas, with a couple of other men interspersed.
So it should surprise no one that Annas was the ghost of power behind Caiaphas, and frequently called “high priest” since the Roman control wasn’t recognized in private. Under Moses, the High Priest served until death. It’s almost guaranteed that Annas remained president of the Sanhedrin the whole time.
But it was John alone who mentions that Jesus was led initially to face Annas, whose palace was closer to the Garden of Gethsemane. Legally, this was no more than an informal interview, given the hour and his official position. Only after this did Jesus face Caiaphas. We are reminded that Caiaphas as High Priest, despite his political corruption, was still used of God to prophesy that Jesus was going to die for the sake of His nation.
The palace of the High Priest was built on a steep hillside. The servants’ entrance was on the low side, while there was an official entrance on the main street above. Since this whole arrest and prosecution was contrary to the Law of Moses, Jesus was led into this back entrance and into the open court at the back of the palace.
It’s a little fuzzy at this point. John interrupts that narrative to keep track of what happened to Peter during this time, since John himself was also there. Matthew puts this part later in his narrative, as do Mark and Luke. John spaces it out differently than they do.
John knew the gatekeeper from previous business and got himself and Peter into the lower courtyard where a large number of servants on call were hanging out. It was cold enough to warrant having a fire for them. The gatekeeper remarked that Peter was easily recognizable as one of the Twelve, since he was the largest, eldest and most outspoken, and likely had unique facial features. Peter denied being associated with Jesus, just an interested bystander who warmed himself by the same fire as some of the arresting party.
(How did the arresting party not recognize the big guy who swung a big knife at one of their number in the Garden of Gethsemane?)
Meanwhile, Annas asked Jesus about His closest associates and a summary of His teachings. Given this was not a lawful Sanhedrin assembly, Jesus was justified in His tart response. However, the legal issue was that Annas was trying to get Jesus to say something that would condemn Himself under the oral traditions (AKA the Talmud, the law of the Kingdom of Judea). Jesus pretended this was a valid legal proceeding, and suggested Annas could easily find witnesses who were there to hear what He had taught.
It was wholly illegal for the guard standing near Him to strike Jesus in that fashion. This explains the tone of Jesus’ rebuke. Annas saw no reason to push things further at this point and had Jesus marched over to the official High Priest.
Jesus was stood before the Caiaphas and some members of the Sanhedrin in yet another legally informal hearing. We believe there was an open plaza at the back of the palace, at or near the level of the palace floor, where Caiaphas and some of the Sanhedrin and judges questioned Jesus at length. None of this was legal; it was a kangaroo court. Some of those sitting on this council had certainly witnessed His teachings. Yet, for some reason, the Sanhedrin never found anyone capable of offering a legally valid testimony against Him. There were plenty who could be suborned to perjury, but nothing that was consistent between any two witnesses.
This parade of nonsense carried on for hours. It was during this time that Peter was twice more asked about whether he was a disciple of Jesus. He got more and more animated about denying it, even to the point of swearing like the sailor he was. Then a rooster crowed. Here, Jesus turned where He stood before the Sanhedrin and glanced down at Peter in the lower courtyard. Peter broke down and left the courtyard.
Finally they found a couple of witnesses who were able to quote something Jesus said about destroying the Temple and raising it back up in three days. Even then, too many details differed and it should have been ruled inadmissible. Still, it was as good as the Sanhedrin could get, and the High Priest raised the question with Jesus. The condemned stood mute.
In a fit of rage, Caiaphas placed Jesus under an oath and demanded He state clearly whether He was the Son of God. To this Jesus replied that He was indeed, and they would some day see Him coming in the clouds of glory. It was all they needed under the Talmud; Jesus had committed blasphemy in their eyes.
There is every reason to believe that Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin were working a secret deal with Pilate. They needed to come up with something that condemned Jesus under Judean law (the Talmud) and then something that would stand under Roman law, as well. They retired inside the palace proper and left Jesus standing out on the open space with the arresting guards. This was their cue to entertain themselves with Jesus. Again, totally illegal, but they assaulted Jesus repeatedly, demanding that He prophesy as to who struck Him.
This ruling council still had to wait until Pilate was ready to hold court for them, sometime after dawn.
