John 18:13

John 18:13. And led him to Annas first, for he was father-in-law to Caiaphas which was high priest of that year. The word ‘first' is worthy of notice. It may be used only with reference to the narrative that follows; but it is also possible that we have here another instance, similar to that which we have already met in chap. John 3:24, of the clear and decided manner in which the writer of the Fourth Gospel corrects impressions drawn from the incomplete statements of the earlier Gospels. In the latter we read only of a hearing before Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin, and no mention is made of Annas. That Jesus was taken before Annas ‘first' is the statement of John, and the very distinctness with which it is made is no small evidence that we are dealing with real history.