The high priest then asked Jesus of His disciples, and of His doctrine. John 18:19
We can understand in a measure why Caiaphas would ask Jesus about His doctrine. He and the Sanhedrin had an interest in the the teachings of this Man Whose views so sharply contrasted with theirs and whose words so sharply rebuked them. They had reports from spies, and many of them had heard Him themselves, but they would like to hear from His lips exactly what he taught and held as truth. That Caiaphas would ask about His doctrine was not surprising. But why did he first ask about His disciples. What was Caiaphas looking for?
Remember the account of the man who came to Jesus one day and asked if there were few that be saved? The man was looking to find out how popular this salvation was, and whether it might be good to jump onto the bandwagon. I think Caiaphas was also looking to find out how popular Jesus had become. By asking about His disciples, he could determine whether Jesus was claiming that a large portion of the people had turned to support Him. If Jesus should make such a claim, Caiaphas would be able to mark Him as a revolutionary and a traitor. His question was an attempt to entrap Jesus into convicting Himself. And it might gain the high priest some information that would enable him to squelch the Nazarene’s support. Like all enemies of the Lord Jesus and of His Gospel, Caiaphas had nothing but destruction on his mind, and selfishness in his heart.
We read of no response from Jesus concerning His disciples. He identified none of them, and made no reference to His supporters in terms of numbers or location. How different He was from us! If we were there, we could tell of the thousands who flocked to hear Jesus preach on the Galilean hillsides, and even of the throngs who welcomed him with palm branches and hosannas to Jerusalem. Even today, we note the hundreds who attend our conferences and hope nobody notices the twos and threes who gather in our little Assemblies for weekly meetings. We would like people to think that the doctrine of Christ is that which attracts many disciples. But Jesus never made such a claim.
When Jesus was asked about His disciples, He made it obvious that His disciples were His business. And we must concur. -Jim MacIntosh