Intro to Chapter 2: The Sadducees
The high priest was one of the Sadducees, the priestly aristocracy that took its name from Zadok, who was high priest under David a thousand years before. The Sadducees, in Jesus’ day, were politically minded - masters of worldly success even when that meant collaboration with the occupying Romans. They saw no need for an afterlife and did not believe in any.
Annas served for fifteen years, and though he was dismissed, his influence was such that he was able to have five of his sons appointed after him. Caiaphas, his son-in-law, was appointed in 18 A.D. Among his other powers, the high priest was the president of the Sanhedrin, the body that governed the Jews under the authority of all-powerful Rome. Most of the Sanhedrin were Sadducees, who prospered under Roman rule and had a vested interest in the status quo.
Judas Iscariot and Simon the Zealot would have hated Rome and all those who collaborated with them.