John 11:49

But a certain one of them, Caiaphas being high priest that year, said unto them, Ye know nothing at all, nor do ye take account that it is expedient that one man should die for all the people, and that the whole nation perish not.

Being high priest that year ... This expression does not indicate that John thought the office of high priest changed hands every year, but is a simple affirmation that in "that year," that awful year when Jesus suffered - in that year, Caiaphas was the high priest.

One man should die for the people ... This was intended by Caiaphas merely as the blunt statement of a political expedient to the effect that it was better to kill Jesus than to wait until the people hailed him as the Messiah, thus bringing on them the wrath of the Romans. That bold murderous proposal must not be understood as anything either sincere or honest. The hatred of Caiaphas and others against Jesus was not founded on fear that Jesus would precipitate a conflict with the Romans, but upon the exact opposite of that, namely, because they knew that he would do no such thing. Apologists for the attitude of the Jewish priests who attempt to justify their murder of the Lord on the basis that they acted in good faith out of fear for their nation have simply failed to read the facts.