Caiphas came from a family of priests. His sons also became high priests. I have no doubt he paid for his office--which was how the system worked and how a proconsul like Pilate would have made his fortune. There is a probability Caiphas also had connections in Rome and had leverage over Pilate. It is not necessarily true that his appointment indicated he was Pilate's tool.
In any case, what is your point--that the Gospels are wrong and you are right and that the Christian faith is based on false premises about Jewish involvement in the death of Jesus? Don't you think this is kind of arrogant, suggesting to Christians that their holy texts are mistaken and that Gibson ought to have consulted with modern scholars before making his movie? This is absurd. He's a Christian, not a humanist scholar with a vested interest in undermining the New Testament.
As for Jesus's comment that Pilate's authority came from God--I'm sure the same could have been said of Caiphas, as you say. But so what? While authority comes from God, the way such authority is wielded--whether justly or unjustly--is a matter of an individual's judgment. Pilate and Caiphas still would have been obliged to act justly. They did not.
Caiphas came from a family of priests. His sons also became high priests. I have no doubt he paid for his office--which was how the system worked and how a proconsul like Pilate would have made his fortune. There is a probability Caiphas also had connections in Rome and had leverage over Pilate. It is not necessarily true that his appointment indicated he was Pilate's tool. But the fact remains that Caiaphas was a Roman appointee. And, if we accept Jesus' statement that the Romans obtained their power from God, (John 19:11) then Caiaphas, being a Roman appointee, also obtained his power from God.
Therefore, God ordained that Jesus die. No one else did.
As for Jesus's comment that Pilate's authority came from God--I'm sure the same could have been said of Caiphas, as you say. But so what? While authority comes from God, the way such authority is wielded--whether justly or unjustly--is a matter of an individual's judgment. Pilate and Caiphas still would have been obliged to act justly. They did not.
According to Paul, the Romans never acted unjustly:
Romans 13:1-3
Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.
For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil.
Since Caiaphas was a Roman-appointed ruler, he was not a terror to good works but only to evil. Jesus, then, must have deserved to die. (according to Paul)