The system of images of the novel. Multi-faceted, multi-level storytelling: from symbolic (biblical or mythological) to satirical (everyday) - Lesson

In Chapter 1 of the novel there is practically no exposition or introduction. From the very beginning, Woland's dispute with Berlioz and Ivan Bezdomny about the existence of Jesus unfolds. To prove Woland’s correctness, Chapter 2 of “Pontius Pilate” is immediately placed, which tells about the interrogation of Yeshua by the procurator of Judea. As the reader will later understand, this is one of the fragments of the master’s book, which Massolit curses, but Woland, who retold this episode, knows well. Berlioz would later say that this story “does not coincide with the gospel stories,” and he would be right. In the Gospels there is only a slight hint of Pilate’s torment and hesitation when approving the death sentence of Jesus, and in the master’s book, the interrogation of Yeshua is a complex psychological duel not only of moral goodness and power, but also of two people, two individuals.

Several leitmotif details skillfully used by the author in the episode help reveal the meaning of the fight. At the very beginning, Pilate has a premonition of a bad day due to the smell of rose oil, which he hated. Hence the headache that torments the procurator, because of which he does not move his head and looks like stone. Then - the news that the death sentence for the defendant must be approved by him. This is another torment for Pilate.

And yet, at the beginning of the episode, Pilate is calm, confident, and speaks quietly, although the author calls his voice “dull, sick.”

The next leitmotif is the secretary recording the interrogation. Pilate is burned by Yeshua’s words that writing down words distorts their meaning. Later, when Yeshua relieves Pilate of his headache and he feels affection for the deliverer from pain against his will, the procurator will either speak in a language unknown to the secretary, or even kick out the secretary and the convoy in order to be left with Yeshua alone, without witnesses.

Another symbolic image is the sun, which Ratboy obscured with his rough and gloomy figure. The sun is an irritating symbol of heat and light, and the tormented Pilate is constantly trying to hide from this heat and light.

Pilate's eyes are cloudy at first, but after Yeshua's revelations they shine more and more with the same sparks. At some point, it begins to seem that, on the contrary, Yeshua is judging Pilate. He relieves the procurator of his headache, advises him to take a break from business and take a walk (like a doctor), chides him for the loss of faith in people and the meagerness of his life, then claims that only God gives and takes away life, and not the rulers, convinces Pilate that “ There are no evil people in the world."

The role of the swallow flying into and out of the colonnade is interesting. The swallow is a symbol of life, independent of the power of Caesar, not asking the procurator where to build and where not to build a nest. The swallow, like the sun, is an ally of Yeshua. She has a softening effect on Pilate. From this moment on, Yeshua is calm and confident, and Pilate is anxious, irritated from the painful split. He is constantly looking for a reason to leave Yeshua, whom he likes, alive: he either thinks to imprison him in a fortress, or put him in a madhouse, although he himself says that he is not crazy, then with glances, gestures, hints, and reticence, he prompts the prisoner with the words necessary for salvation; “For some reason he looked at the secretary and the convoy with hatred.” Finally, after a fit of rage, when Pilate realized that Yeshua is absolutely uncompromising, he powerlessly asks the prisoner: “No wife?” - as if hoping that she could help straighten the brains of this naive and pure person.

“The Hated City” is Pilate’s summary, evidence of his despair that, faithfully serving the power of Caesar and believing in it, it is he who is forced to approve the death sentence of a man who is innocent. Yeshua's inflexibility infuriates Pilate. At this moment, just before the execution was approved, the procurator “with a furious gaze followed the swallow, which again fluttered onto the balcony.”

Pilate made a decision, although he realized that no one else could cure his headache. But he continues to suffer even after the high priest Caiaphas informed him that it was not Yeshua who had been pardoned, but the robber Bar-ravan. He is overcome by an inexplicable melancholy; it seems to him that “he didn’t finish talking to the convict about something, or maybe he didn’t listen to something.” He is tormented by the “anger of powerlessness.”

At the moment the execution begins, Pilate squints, “but not because the sun was burning his eyes... For some reason he did not want to see a group of convicts...” When Pilate said that Varavan had been pardoned, “it seemed to him that the sun, ringing, burst over it filled his ears with fire.”

M. Bulgakov shows by all possible means moral victory Yeshua over Pontius Pilate and the cruelty of power that opposes morality, freedom, goodness, even against one’s will.

Yeshua is a hero because he overcame his fear and remained true to himself. Pilate is not a hero, he did not overcome his fear, for him submission to authority and career turned out to be more important than human instinct, conscience, sympathy, sympathy.

...A chair had already been prepared on the mosaic floor by the fountain, and the procurator, without looking at anyone, sat down in it and extended his hand to the side.

The secretary respectfully placed a piece of parchment into this hand. Unable to resist a painful grimace, the procurator glanced sideways at what was written, returned the parchment to the secretary and said with difficulty:

– A suspect from Galilee? Did they send the matter to the tetrarch?

“Yes, procurator,” answered the secretary.

- What is he?

“He refused to give an opinion on the case and sent the death sentence to the Sanhedrin for your approval,” the secretary explained.

Yeshua and Pontius Pilate

The procurator twitched his cheek and said quietly:

- Bring the accused.

And immediately, from the garden platform under the columns to the balcony, two legionnaires brought in a man of about twenty-seven and placed him in front of the procurator’s chair. This man was dressed in an old and torn blue chiton. His head was covered with a white bandage with a strap around his forehead, and his hands were tied behind his back. The man had a large bruise under his left eye and an abrasion with dried blood in the corner of his mouth. The man brought in looked at the procurator with anxious curiosity.

He paused, then quietly asked in Aramaic:

- So it was you who persuaded the people to destroy the Yershalaim temple?

At the same time, the procurator sat as if made of stone, and only his lips moved slightly when pronouncing the words. The procurator was like a stone, because he was afraid to shake his head, blazing with hellish pain.

Man with hands tied leaned forward a little and began to speak:

- A kind person! Trust me…

But the procurator, still not moving and not raising his voice at all, immediately interrupted him:

- That's me you call kind person? You're wrong. In Yershalaim, everyone whispers about me that I am a ferocious monster, and this is absolutely true,” and he added just as monotonously: “Centurion Rat-Slayer to me.”

It seemed to everyone that it had darkened on the balcony when the centurion, commander of the special centurion, Mark, nicknamed the Rat Slayer, appeared before the procurator.

Rat Slayer was a head taller than the tallest soldier in the legion, and so broad in the shoulders that he completely blocked out the still low sun.

The procurator addressed the centurion in Latin:

- The criminal calls me “a good man.” Take him out of here for a minute, explain to him how to talk to me. But don't maim.

And everyone, except the motionless procurator, followed Mark the Ratboy, who waved his hand to the arrested man, indicating that he should follow him.

In general, everyone followed the rat-slayer with their eyes, wherever he appeared, because of his height, and those who saw him for the first time, because of the fact that the centurion’s face was disfigured: his nose had once been broken by a blow from a German club.

Mark's heavy boots tapped on the mosaic, the bound man followed him silently, complete silence fell in the colonnade, and one could hear pigeons cooing in the garden area near the balcony, and the water sang an intricate, pleasant song in the fountain.

The procurator wanted to get up, put his temple under the stream and freeze like that. But he knew that this would not help him either.

Taking the arrested man out from under the columns into the garden, Ratboy took the whip from the hands of the legionnaire standing at the foot of the bronze statue and, swinging it slightly, hit the arrested man on the shoulders. The centurion's movement was careless and easy, but the bound one instantly fell to the ground, as if his legs had been cut off, choked on air, the color ran away from his face and his eyes became meaningless. Mark, with one left hand, easily, like an empty sack, lifted the fallen man into the air, put him on his feet and spoke nasally, poorly pronouncing Aramaic words:

– Call the Roman procurator hegemon. No other words to say. Stand still. Do you understand me or should I hit you?

The arrested man staggered, but controlled himself, the color returned, he took a breath and answered hoarsely:

- I understood you. Do not hit me.

A minute later he again stood in front of the procurator.

- My? - the arrested person hastily responded, expressing with all his being his readiness to answer intelligently and not cause further anger.

- Mine - I know. Don't pretend to be more stupid than you are. Your.

“Yeshua,” the prisoner hastily answered.

- Do you have a nickname?

- Ga-Nozri.

- Where you're from?

“From the city of Gamala,” answered the prisoner, indicating with his head that there, somewhere far away, to the right of him, in the north, there was the city of Gamala.

-Who are you by blood?

“I don’t know for sure,” the arrested man answered briskly, “I don’t remember my parents.” They told me that my father was Syrian...

– Where do you live permanently?

- I have no permanent home“,” the prisoner answered shyly, “I travel from city to city.”

“This can be expressed briefly, in one word - a tramp,” said the procurator and asked: “Do you have any relatives?”

- There is no one. I'm alone in the world.

- Do you know how to read and write?

– Do you know any language other than Aramaic?

- I know. Greek.

The swollen eyelid lifted, the eye, covered with a haze of suffering, stared at the arrested man. The other eye remained closed.

Pilate spoke in Greek:

– So you were going to destroy the temple building and called on the people to do this?

Here the prisoner perked up again, his eyes stopped expressing fear, and he spoke in Greek:

“I, dear...” here horror flashed in the eyes of the arrested man because he almost misspoke, “I, the hegemon, never in my life intended to destroy the temple building and did not persuade anyone to do this senseless action.”

Surprise was expressed on the face of the secretary, hunched over the low table and recording the testimony. He raised his head, but immediately bowed it again to the parchment.

- A bunch of different people flocks to this city for the holiday. There are magicians, astrologers, soothsayers and murderers among them,” the procurator said monotonously, “and there are also liars.” For example, you are a liar. It is clearly written down: he persuaded to destroy the temple. This is how people testify.

“These good people,” the prisoner spoke and hastily added: “hegemon,” he continued: “they didn’t learn anything and they all confused what I said.” In general, I am beginning to fear that this confusion will continue for a very long time. And all because he writes me down incorrectly.

There was silence. Now both sick eyes looked heavily at the prisoner.

- I repeat to you, but last time“Stop pretending to be crazy, robber,” Pilate said softly and monotonously, “there is not much recorded against you, but there is enough written down to hang you.”

“No, no, hegemon,” said the arrested man, straining himself in the desire to convince, “he walks and walks alone with a goat’s parchment and writes continuously.” But one day I looked into this parchment and was horrified. I said absolutely nothing of what was written there. I begged him: burn your parchment for God’s sake! But he snatched it from my hands and ran away.

- Who it? – Pilate asked disgustedly and touched his temple with his hand.

“Matthew Levi,” the prisoner readily explained, “he was a tax collector, and I met him for the first time on the road in Bethphage, where the fig garden overlooks the corner, and I got into conversation with him. Initially, he treated me with hostility and even insulted me, that is, he thought that he was insulting me by calling me a dog,” here the prisoner grinned, “I personally don’t see anything bad in this beast to be offended by this word...

The secretary stopped taking notes and secretly cast a surprised glance, not at the arrested person, but at the procurator.

“...however, after listening to me, he began to soften,” Yeshua continued, “finally he threw money on the road and said that he would travel with me...”

Pilate grinned with one cheek, baring his yellow teeth, and said, turning his whole body to the secretary:

- Oh, the city of Yershalaim! There's just so much you can't hear in it. The tax collector, you hear, threw money on the road!

Not knowing how to respond to this, the secretary considered it necessary to repeat Pilate’s smile.

Still grinning, the procurator looked at the arrested man, then at the sun, steadily rising above the equestrian statues of the hippodrome, which lay far below to the right, and suddenly, in some kind of sickening torment, he thought that the easiest thing would be to expel this strange robber from the balcony, saying only two words: “Hang him.” Expel the convoy too, leave the colonnade inside the palace, order the room to be darkened, lie down on the bed, demand cold water, in a plaintive voice, call the dog Bang, complain to her about hemicrania. And the thought of poison suddenly flashed seductively in the procurator’s sick head.

He looked with dull eyes at the prisoner and was silent for some time, painfully remembering why in the morning merciless Yershalaim sun a prisoner with a face disfigured by beatings was standing in front of him, and what unnecessary questions he would have to ask.

“Yes, Levi Matvey,” a high, tormenting voice came to him.

– But what did you say about the temple to the crowd at the market?

“I, the hegemon, said that the temple of the old faith would collapse and a new temple of truth would be created. I said it this way to make it clearer.

- Why did you, tramp, confuse people at the market by talking about the truth about which you have no idea? What is truth?

And then the procurator thought: “Oh, my gods! I ask him about something unnecessary in court... My mind no longer serves me....” And again he imagined a bowl of dark liquid. “I’ll poison you, I’ll poison you!”

“The truth, first of all, is that you have a headache, and it hurts so much that you are cowardly thinking about death.” Not only are you unable to speak to me, but it is difficult for you to even look at me. And now I am unwittingly your executioner, which saddens me. You can’t even think about anything and dream only that your dog, apparently the only creature to which you are attached, will come. But your torment will now end, your headache will go away.

The secretary stared at the prisoner and did not finish the words.

Pilate raised his martyred eyes to the prisoner and saw that the sun was already standing quite high above the hippodrome, that the ray had made its way into the colonnade and was creeping towards Yeshua’s worn sandals, that he was avoiding the sun.

Here the procurator rose from his chair, clasped his head in his hands, and horror was expressed on his yellowish, shaved face. But he immediately suppressed it with his will and sank back into the chair.

Meanwhile, the prisoner continued his speech, but the secretary did not write down anything else, but only, stretching his neck like a goose, tried not to utter a single word.

“Well, it’s all over,” said the arrested man, looking benevolently at Pilate, “and I’m extremely happy about it.” I would advise you, hegemon, to leave the palace for a while and take a walk somewhere in the surrounding area, or at least in the gardens on the Mount of Olives. The thunderstorm will begin,” the prisoner turned and squinted into the sun, “later, in the evening.” A walk would be of great benefit to you, and I would be happy to accompany you. Some new thoughts have occurred to me that might, I think, seem interesting to you, and I would be happy to share them with you, especially since you seem very smart person.

The secretary turned deathly pale and dropped the scroll to the floor.

“The trouble is,” continued the bound man, unstoppable by anyone, “that you are too closed and have completely lost faith in people.” You can’t, you see, put all your affection into a dog. Your life is meager, hegemon,” and here the speaker allowed himself to smile.

The secretary was now thinking about only one thing: whether to believe his ears or not. I had to believe. Then he tried to imagine exactly what bizarre form the anger of the hot-tempered procurator would take at this unheard-of insolence of the arrested person. And the secretary could not imagine this, although he knew the procurator well.

- Untie his hands.

One of the escort legionnaires struck his spear, handed it to another, walked up and removed the ropes from the prisoner. The secretary picked up the scroll and decided not to write anything down and not be surprised by anything for now.

“Confess,” Pilate asked quietly in Greek, “are you a great doctor?”

“No, procurator, I’m not a doctor,” answered the prisoner, rubbing his crumpled and swollen purple hand with pleasure.

Cool, from under his brows Pilate gazed at the prisoner, and in these eyes there was no longer any dullness, familiar sparks appeared in them.

“I didn’t ask you,” said Pilate, “perhaps you know and Latin language?

“Yes, I know,” answered the prisoner.

Color appeared on Pilate's yellowish cheeks, and he asked in Latin:

- How did you know that I wanted to call the dog?

“It’s very simple,” the prisoner answered in Latin, “you moved your hand through the air,” the prisoner repeated Pilate’s gesture, “as if you wanted to stroke it, and your lips...”

“Yes,” said Pilate.

There was silence, then Pilate asked a question in Greek:

- So, are you a doctor?

“No, no,” the prisoner answered briskly, “believe me, I’m not a doctor.”

- OK then. If you want to keep it a secret, keep it. This is not directly related to the matter. So you claim that you did not call for destroying... or setting fire, or in any other way destroying the temple?

– I, the hegemon, did not call anyone to such actions, I repeat. Do I look like a retard?

“Oh yes, you don’t look like a weak-minded person,” the procurator answered quietly and smiled some kind of terrible smile, “so swear that this didn’t happen.”

“What do you want me to swear to?” – he asked, very animated, untied.

“Well, at least with your life,” answered the procurator, “it’s time to swear by it, since it hangs by a thread, know this!”

“Don’t you think you’ve hung her up, hegemon?” - asked the prisoner, - if this is so, you are very mistaken. Pilate shuddered and answered through clenched teeth:

- I can cut this hair.

“And you’re wrong about that,” the prisoner objected, smiling brightly and shielding himself from the sun with his hand, “will you agree that only the one who hung it can probably cut a hair?”

“Well, well,” said Pilate, smiling, “now I have no doubt that the idle onlookers in Yershalaim followed on your heels.” I don’t know who hung your tongue, but it hung well. By the way, tell me: is it true that you appeared in Yershalaim through the Susa Gate riding on a donkey, accompanied by a crowd of rabble who shouted greetings to you as if to some prophet? – here the procurator pointed to a scroll of parchment.

The prisoner looked at the procurator in bewilderment.

“I don’t even have a donkey, hegemon,” he said. “I came to Yershalaim exactly through the Susa Gate, but on foot, accompanied by only Levi Matthew, and no one shouted anything to me, since no one knew me in Yershalaim then.

“Do you know such people,” Pilate continued, without taking his eyes off the prisoner, “a certain Dismas, another Gestas and a third Bar-Rabban?”

“I don’t know these good people,” answered the prisoner.

- Is it true?

- Is it true.

– Now tell me, why do you always use the words “good people”? Is that what you call everyone?

“All of them,” answered the prisoner, “there are no evil people in the world.”

“This is the first time I’ve heard about this,” said Pilate, grinning, “but maybe I don’t know life well!” You don’t have to write down any further,” he turned to the secretary, although he didn’t write anything down anyway, and continued to say to the prisoner: “Did you read about this in any of the Greek books?”

- No, I came to this with my mind.

- And you preach this?

- But for example, Centurion Mark, they called him Rat-Slayer, is he kind?

“Yes,” answered the prisoner, “he is, indeed, an unhappy man.” Since good people disfigured him, he has become cruel and callous. It would be interesting to know who crippled him?

“I can readily report this,” Pilate responded, “for I witnessed it.” Good people rushed at him like dogs at a bear. The Germans grabbed his neck, arms, and legs. The infantry maniple fell into the bag, and if the cavalry tour had not cut in from the flank, and I commanded it, you, philosopher, would not have had to talk to the Rat-Slayer. This was in the battle of Idistavizo, in the Valley of the Maidens.

“If I could talk to him,” the prisoner suddenly said dreamily, “I’m sure he would change dramatically.”

“I believe,” Pilate responded, “that you would bring little joy to the legate of the legion if you decided to talk to any of his officers or soldiers.” However, this will not happen, fortunately for everyone, and I will be the first to take care of this.

At this time, a swallow quickly flew into the colonnade, made a circle under the golden ceiling, descended, almost touched the face of the copper statue in the niche with its sharp wing and disappeared behind the capital of the column. Perhaps she got the idea to build a nest there.

During her flight, a formula developed in the now bright and light head of the procurator. It was like this: the hegemon looked into the case of the wandering philosopher Yeshua, nicknamed Ga-Notsri, and did not find any corpus delicti in it. In particular, I did not find the slightest connection between the actions of Yeshua and the unrest that occurred in Yershalaim recently. The wandering philosopher turned out to be mentally ill. As a result, the procurator does not approve the death sentence of Ha-Nozri, passed by the Small Sanhedrin. But due to the fact that the crazy, utopian speeches of Ha-Nozri could be the cause of unrest in Yershalaim, the procurator removes Yeshua from Yershalaim and subjects him to imprisonment in Caesarea Stratanova on the Mediterranean Sea, that is, exactly where the procurator’s residence is.

All that remained was to dictate this to the secretary.

The swallow's wings snorted just above the hegemon's head, the bird darted towards the bowl of the fountain and flew out into freedom. The procurator looked up at the prisoner and saw that a column of dust had caught fire near him.

– Everything about him? – Pilate asked the secretary.

“No, unfortunately,” the secretary unexpectedly answered and handed Pilate another piece of parchment.

-What else is there? – Pilate asked and frowned.

Having read what was submitted, his face changed even more. Whether the dark blood rushed to his neck and face or something else happened, but his skin lost its yellowness, turned brown, and his eyes seemed to have sunk.

Again, the culprit was probably the blood rushing to his temples and pounding through them, only something happened to the procurator’s vision. So, it seemed to him that the prisoner’s head floated away somewhere, and another one appeared in its place. On this bald head sat a thin-toothed golden crown; there was a round ulcer on the forehead, corroding the skin and covered with ointment; a sunken, toothless mouth with a drooping, capricious lower lip. It seemed to Pilate that the pink columns of the balcony and the roofs of Yershalaim in the distance, below the garden, disappeared, and everything around was drowned in the dense greenery of the Caprean gardens. And something strange happened to the hearing - as if trumpets were playing quietly and menacingly in the distance, and a nasal voice was very clearly heard, arrogantly drawing the words: “The law on lese majeste...”

Thoughts rushed through, short, incoherent and extraordinary: “Dead!”, then: “Dead!..” And some completely ridiculous one among them about someone who must certainly be - and with whom?! – immortality, and for some reason immortality caused unbearable melancholy.

Pilate tensed, expelled the vision, returned his gaze to the balcony, and again the eyes of the prisoner appeared before him.

“Listen, Ha-Nozri,” the procurator spoke, looking at Yeshua somehow strangely: the procurator’s face was menacing, but his eyes were alarming, “have you ever said anything about the great Caesar?” Answer! Did you say?.. Or… didn’t… say? “Pilate drew out the word “not” a little longer than is appropriate in court, and sent Yeshua in his gaze some thought that he seemed to want to instill in the prisoner.

“It’s easy and pleasant to tell the truth,” the prisoner remarked.

“I don’t need to know,” Pilate responded in a stifled, angry voice, “whether it’s pleasant or unpleasant for you to tell the truth.” But you'll have to say it. But when speaking, weigh every word if you do not want not only inevitable, but also painful death.

No one knows what happened to the procurator of Judea, but he allowed himself to raise his hand, as if shielding himself from sunbeam, and behind this hand, as if behind a shield, send the prisoner some kind of suggestive glance.

“So,” he said, “answer, do you know a certain Judas from Kiriath, and what exactly did you tell him, if anything, about Caesar?”

“It was like this,” the prisoner eagerly began to tell, “the day before yesterday in the evening I met a young man near the temple who called himself Judas from the city of Kiriath.” He invited me to his house in the Lower City and treated me...

- A kind person? – asked Pilate, and the devil’s fire sparkled in his eyes.

“A very kind and inquisitive person,” confirmed the prisoner, “he showed the greatest interest in my thoughts, received me very cordially...

“I lit the lamps...” Pilate said through his teeth in the tone of the prisoner, and his eyes flickered as he did so.

“Yes,” Yeshua continued, a little surprised at the procurator’s knowledge, “asked me to express my view on state power. He was extremely interested in this question.

- And what did you say? - asked Pilate, - or will you answer that you forgot what you said? – but there was already hopelessness in Pilate’s tone.

“Among other things, I said,” said the prisoner, “that all power is violence against people and that the time will come when there will be no power of either Caesar or any other power.” Man will move into the kingdom of truth and justice, where no power will be needed at all.

The secretary, trying not to utter a word, quickly scribbled words on the parchment.

“There has never been, is not, and never will be a greater and more beautiful power for people than the power of Emperor Tiberius!” – Pilate’s torn and sick voice grew.

For some reason the procurator looked at the secretary and the convoy with hatred.

The convoy raised their spears and, rhythmically knocking their shod swords, walked out from the balcony into the garden, and the secretary followed the convoy.

The silence on the balcony was broken for some time only by the song of the water in the fountain. Pilate saw how the water plate swelled above the tube, how its edges broke off, how it fell in streams.

The prisoner spoke first:

“I see that some kind of disaster has happened because I spoke with this young man from Kiriath.” I, the hegemon, have a presentiment that misfortune will happen to him, and I feel very sorry for him.

“I think,” the procurator answered with a strange smile, “that there is something else in the world whom you should feel sorry for more than Judas of Kiriath, and who will have to do much worse than Judas!” So, Mark the Ratboy, a cold and convinced executioner, people who, as I see,” the procurator pointed to the disfigured face of Yeshua, “beat you for your sermons, the robbers Dismas and Gestas, who killed four soldiers with their associates, and, finally, the dirty traitor Judas - are they all good people?

“Yes,” answered the prisoner.

– And will the kingdom of truth come?

“It will come, hegemon,” Yeshua answered with conviction.

- It will never come! - Pilate suddenly shouted in such a terrible voice that Yeshua recoiled. So many years ago, in the Valley of the Virgins, Pilate shouted to his horsemen the words: “Cut them down! Slash them! The Giant Rat Slayer has been caught!” He even raised his voice, strained by commands, calling out the words so that they could be heard in the garden: “Criminal!” Criminal! Criminal!

– Yeshua Ha-Nozri, do you believe in any gods?

“There is only one God,” Yeshua answered, “I believe in him.”

- So pray to him! Pray harder! However,” here Pilate’s voice sank, “this cannot.” No wife? - For some reason, Pilate asked sadly, not understanding what was happening to him.

- No, I am alone.

“Hateful city,” the procurator suddenly muttered for some reason and shrugged his shoulders, as if he were cold, and rubbed his hands, as if washing them, “if you had been stabbed to death before your meeting with Judas of Kiriath, really, it would have been better.”

“Would you let me go, hegemon,” the prisoner suddenly asked, and his voice became alarmed, “I see that they want to kill me.”

Pilate’s face was distorted with a spasm, he turned to Yeshua the inflamed, red-veined whites of his eyes and said:

“Do you think, unfortunate one, that the Roman procurator will release the man who said what you said?” Oh gods, gods! Or do you think I'm ready to take your place? I don’t share your thoughts! And listen to me: if from now on you utter even one word, speak to anyone, beware of me! I repeat to you: beware.

- Hegemon...

- Be silent! - Pilate cried and with a wild gaze followed the swallow, which again fluttered onto the balcony, - towards me! - Pilate shouted.

And when the secretary and the convoy returned to their places, Pilate announced that he approved the death sentence pronounced in the meeting of the Small Sanhedrin to the criminal Yeshua Ha-Nozri, and the secretary wrote down what Pilate said.

A minute later, Mark Ratboy stood in front of the procurator. The procurator ordered him to hand over the criminal to the head of the secret service and at the same time convey to him the procurator’s order that Yeshua Ha-Nozri be separated from other convicts, and also that the secret service team be prohibited from doing anything under pain of grave punishment talk to Yeshua or answer any of his questions.

At a sign from Mark, a convoy closed around Yeshua and led him out of the balcony...

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More on the topic...

• Margarita’s final monologue “Listen to the soundlessness” (text)
• Bulgakov “The Master and Margarita”, chapter 26. Burial – read online in full
• “Heart of a Dog,” monologue by Professor Preobrazhensky about devastation – text
• Bulgakov “The Master and Margarita” – read online chapter by chapter
• Bulgakov “The Master and Margarita”, Epilogue – read online in full
• Bulgakov “The Master and Margarita”, chapter 32. Forgiveness and eternal shelter - read online in full
• Bulgakov “The Master and Margarita”, chapter 31. On the Sparrow Hills – read online in full
• Bulgakov “The Master and Margarita”, chapter 30. It’s time! It's time! – read online in full
• Bulgakov “The Master and Margarita”, chapter 29. The fate of the Master and Margarita is determined - read online in full
• Bulgakov “The Master and Margarita”, chapter 28. The last adventures of Koroviev and Behemoth – read online in full
• Bulgakov “The Master and Margarita”, chapter 27. The end of apartment No. 50 – read online in full
• Bulgakov “The Master and Margarita”, chapter 25. How the procurator tried to save Judas from Kiriath - read online in full
• Bulgakov “The Master and Margarita”, chapter 24. Extraction of the Master - read online in full
• Bulgakov “The Master and Margarita”, chapter 23. Satan’s Great Ball – read online in full
• Bulgakov “The Master and Margarita”, chapter 22. By candlelight – read online in full
• Bulgakov “The Master and Margarita”, chapter 21. Flight – read online in full
• Bulgakov “The Master and Margarita”, chapter 20. Azazello cream – read online in full
• Bulgakov “The Master and Margarita”, chapter 19. Margarita – read online in full
• Bulgakov “The Master and Margarita”, chapter 18. Unlucky visitors – read online in full
• Bulgakov “The Master and Margarita”, chapter 17. A restless day - read online in full
• Bulgakov “The Master and Margarita”, chapter 16. Execution – read online in full
• Bulgakov “The Master and Margarita”, chapter 15. Nikanor Ivanovich’s dream – read online in full
• Bulgakov “The Master and Margarita”, chapter 14. Glory to the rooster! – read online in full
• Bulgakov “The Master and Margarita”, chapter 13. The appearance of the hero - read online in full
• Bulgakov “The Master and Margarita”, chapter 12. Black magic and its exposure – read online in full
• Bulgakov “The Master and Margarita”, chapter 11. Ivan’s split – read online in full
• Bulgakov “The Master and Margarita”, chapter 10. News from Yalta – read online in full
• Bulgakov “The Master and Margarita”, chapter 9. Koroviev’s things – read online in full
• Bulgakov “The Master and Margarita”, chapter 8. The duel between the professor and the poet – read online in full
• Bulgakov “The Master and Margarita”, chapter 7. Bad apartment - read online in full

Lesson topic.

Analysis of the episode “Interrogation in the Palace of Herod the Great” from M. Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita.”

Goals.

1. Check your knowledge of the content of the novel as a whole, mastery of its features creative manner M. Bulgakov.

2. Explore the details of the story and ways to reveal the characters’ characters.

Equipment. Reproductions of paintings by N. Ge. Presentation.

During the classes.

I . Organizing time.

II. introduction teachers.

The novel “The Master and Margarita” is the most talented work of M. Bulgakov, in which philosophy, psychologism, high tragedy, melodrama, farce.

From the huge mass of a multifaceted work, let us take for analysis an episode from the Yershalaim chapters of the novel, created based on a well-known biblical story.

They rise in it eternal problems, existing in the present in the same way as many centuries ago.

What are these problems? Let's name them.

- What is truth?

Man and power

Inner freedom and unfreedom of man

Good and evil, their eternal opposition and struggle

Loyalty and betrayal

Mercy and forgiveness

III . Analysis of the episode according to plan:

1. General ideas, motives, keywords that unite this episode with the problems of the novel.

2. Characters of heroes and ways of revealing them.

4. A turn in the hero’s relationship.

6. Originality linguistic means, artistic techniques, serving the embodiment of the author's idea.

1.

In this episode, which we will be working on today, these philosophical and ethical problems are revealed through the heroes of the novel written by the Master, Pontius Pilate and Yeshua.

What do we learn about them in Chapter 2?

Yeshua is 27 years old. He is a wandering philosopher. His mother is a woman of questionable behavior, his father is Syrian. There is one student who inaccurately and indistinctly writes down some of the teacher’s words and thoughts. No one knew that he entered Yershalaim.

Pontius Pilate is the procurator of Judea, who has unlimited power.

2.

A portrait is one of the ways to reveal the character of a hero, in it the author reflects internal state, spiritual world of the person depicted.

How do these heroes appear to us? What did you conclude as a result of your observation?

It's not about son of god Yeshua is a simple man.

Pontius Pilate is not afraid of blood: he, who has a “cavalry gait,” fearless warrior, it’s not for nothing that he was nicknamed “Horseman of the Golden Spear.” But, probably, he is like that not only in relation to enemies in battle. He himself is ready to repeat about himself what others say about him: “a ferocious monster.” And the author will talk about his suffering, constantly referring to one detail of his portrait - his eyes.

How do his eyes change?

3.

The basis of the episode is the dialogue between Pontius Pilate and Yeshua. Each remark and action of the characters acquire a universal meaning, carry the general idea of ​​the work and develop it.

What is the speech of the heroes? What do we learn about them from it?

Pontius Pilate uses different languages for interrogation: Aramaic, Latin, Greek.

Yeshua understands the procurator.

The interrogated person often uses the word “kind person”.

Pontius Pilate spoke softly, monotonously, did not raise his voice, and when it came to the power of Caesar, a strangled, angry voice appeared.

How it reveals itself through all this state of mind heroes?

Pontius Pilate is contradictory: strong personality and a man tormented by a disease from which there is no salvation. The procurator becomes sympathetic to Yeshua and decides to save him from punishment and bring him closer to himself.

Yeshua knows how to convince people.

Pontius Pilate is internally unfree.

4.

Worldview of the heroes.

What is truth?

The truth, first of all, is that Pilate has a headache.

How does Yeshua develop this concept?

For him, the truth is that no one can control his life; for him, the truth is that “there are no evil people in the world.” He is ready to move towards the truth with the help of conviction and words. This is his life's work.

After this part of the conversation, Pontius Pilate makes a decision in favor of Yeshua.

Which?

Declare the wandering philosopher mentally ill, without finding any corpus delicti in his case, and, removing him from Yershalaim, subject him to imprisonment there. Where was the residence of the procurator located? You want to keep such a person with you.

At what point will Pontius Pilate's mood change?

How does Pilate see Caesar?

Power is violence over people and that the time will come when there will be no power either by Caesars or by any other power. Man will move into the kingdom of truth.

Does Pilate accept this truth?

What happened to the procurator? What is he scared of?

Coward then. When it comes to Caesar, power. For Pilate, the place he occupies is a “golden cage.” He is so afraid for himself that he will go against his conscience.

Pontius Pilate is internally unfree, so he betrays Yeshua.

The hero is one of those people who have a conscience.

Understanding. That Yeshua will be forced to pass judgment, he knows in advance that along with the death of the wandering philosopher, his own death will come - only a moral one.

5. Let's turn to the reproduction of paintings.

How does the artist interpret this scene?

IV . Conclusion. This episode reflected the main ideals of the novel.

V . Homework . Written analysis episode.

(Based on the novel by M.A. Bulgakov "The Master and Margarita")

Pontius Pilate, the procurator of Judea, threateningly addressing the arrested Yeshua, spoke in Greek:
“So you were the one who was going to destroy the temple building and called on the people to do so?”
Here the prisoner perked up again and answered:
“I, the hegemon, never in my life intended to destroy the temple building and did not persuade anyone to do this senseless action....
- Many different people flock to this city for the holiday... - the procurator said monotonously... - You, for example, are a liar. It is clearly written down: he persuaded to destroy the temple. This is what people testify."
“These good people,” the arrested man spoke, “didn’t learn anything and confused everything I said. In general, I’m beginning to fear that this confusion will continue for a very long time.” all because Matvey Levi writes down my notes incorrectly. “But I once looked into his parchment with these notes and was horrified. I said absolutely nothing of what was written there.”
That morning the procurator had an unbearable headache. And looking at the arrested man with dull eyes, he painfully remembered why he was here, and what other questions he should ask. After thinking a little, he said:
- “But what did you say about the temple in the crowd at the market?” – in a hoarse voice asked the sick procurator and closed his eyes.
Every word of the arrested man caused Pontius Pilate terrible pain and stabbed him in the temple. But the arrested person, nevertheless, was forced to answer: “I, the hegemon, said that the temple of the old faith would collapse and a new temple would be created - the true one. I said it so that it would be clearer.
-Why did you, tramp, confuse people by talking about a truth that you have no idea about? What is the truth?" What is it? - P. Pilate shouted in a dull flash of rage, caused not so much by the words of the arrested man, but by the unbearable pain splitting his head. At the same time, he again imagined a bowl of black liquid.
“I’m poisoned, I’m poisoned.” - pounded in his temples, causing unbearable pain.
Overcoming this vision and this hellish pain, he forced himself to again hear the voice of the arrested man, who said:
“The truth, first of all, is that you have a headache, and it hurts so much that you are cowardly thinking about death. Not only are you unable to talk to me, but it is difficult for you to even look at me.” But your torment will end now. Well, it’s all over, and I’m incredibly happy about it,” the arrested man concluded, looking benevolently at P. Pilate.
“But there is another truth that I spoke about in the crowd at the market,” Yeshua continued. “It is that people have chosen a disastrous path of development.” People wanted to be independent, instead of being interconnected as a whole with each other, with surrounding nature and God. Having separated from a single whole that harmoniously connects people with nature and God, they dream and try to find meaning and harmony each in their own little world, as well as in the totality of all their individual little worlds that make up the state. All these little worlds are very much limited by the imperfections of human perception and are far from the truth of a single, integral divine world. Each such little world is colored by a whole range of individual feelings and emotions, such as fear, envy, anger, resentment, egocentrism, thirst for power.
P. Pilate was struck by the words of the arrested man. He was used to being spoken to respectfully and respectfully, trying to guess what he wanted to hear from them. And this tramp behaves as if in front of him is not the great and all-powerful procurator of Judea, whose every whim could take his life, but one of the common people in the market square.
Stupefaction and surprise at the unheard-of audacity made P. Pilate momentarily forget about the excruciating headache. But when he remembered it, he was again amazed and surprised, since the headache went away and stopped tormenting him.
Cool, from under his brows Pilate glared at the prisoner. And there was no longer any cloudiness in those eyes, and his brain became able to adequately perceive reality. His brain worked feverishly, but P. Pilate still could not understand why this man was awakening new feelings in his mind and something similar to interest in his utopian words.
Possessing absolute power, he could easily gather dozens of learned philosophers with all their different concepts. But he didn’t need it at all. He considered himself a sane person, and all these people engaged in disputes and proof of the correctness of their ideas, useless slackers, all their lives delving into their manuscripts, which have no influence on real life. He himself firmly knew and was unshakably convinced that the only values ​​in this world that influence absolutely everything are power and strength. He possesses this to the fullest.
But despite this firm conviction, for some reason he wanted to defeat this unlucky philosopher in the argument. He was sure that he would defeat him with just one phrase when he finished his monologue. He will force him to answer one question: what will outweigh if all the various philosophical theories, together with his own, and on the other hand his, Pilate’s, power and strength? Having decided so, he allowed the prisoner to finish his speech, who continued:
“And in every little world there is a powerful lie. In these little worlds, people perceive crying, pain and death as unconditional evil. People who are unable to adequately perceive reality build their lives on the basis of what seems to them good or evil. They constantly wonder why God does not take the side of their good and allows evil in the world. Accusing Him of indifference and inaction, they are unable to see and appreciate all the goodness, greatness, beauty and harmony of the grandiose canvas of the single divine world. Therefore, with their thoughts, actions and deeds based on fear, envy, lies, violence, people themselves bring disharmony into this united world.
And God, comparing every choice of people with millions of other causes and consequences, allows human evil to prevent even greater ones within the entire creation. For every human action, as in a kaleidoscope, changes the entire picture of the mosaic one world. And every smallest element of this mosaic, regardless of how people themselves evaluate it, deserves only the condition in which it is located.
Replacing perception real world with their individual little worlds, people begin to evaluate and weigh everything, declaring something good and something bad, something good and something evil. People cannot know about the true purpose of the essence and value of events and phenomena. By determining what is good and what is evil, people become judges, although they cannot and do not have the right to be them, since they are able to evaluate only a short-term event of the present, but are not able to evaluate the numerous consequences of subsequent events strung along the axis of time. Therefore, the good done today for oneself, for others, in most cases, later turns into evil. And their diversity, colliding with each other, leads to conflicts and wars.
Millions of people and millions of “experienced” judges most their lives are engaged in chastisement and judgment. People judge distinctive features each other: way of thinking, nationality, language, skin color, appearance, motives and actions, drowning in the illusion that they really know the whole truth and act fair trial. Thus, they cultivate their pride and a sense of superiority over other people. In their individual little worlds there is and cannot be either true harmony or love. All this is beyond them, in the grandiose canvas of true reality. And in order to be truly free and happy, they need to give up their habit of evaluating and judging everything, and defend themselves with pure and sublime thinking. They need to learn to live in a state of harmony, kindness and love with a single divine world, for man is a part of the world, inseparable from it, and is responsible, within the limits of his consciousness, for everything that happens in him.
In addition, people make a big mistake by believing that the suffering of others does not concern them. But everyone breathes the same air, saturated with human emanations and thoughts. And every earthling, whether he wants it or not, cannot separate himself from the environment in which he lives. Neither power, nor wealth, nor position, nor ignorance, nor blindness - nothing can protect a person from the influence of the world of which he is a part. Nothing can protect you from the spatial influences of the human ocean: neither guards, nor palace walls, behind which something also presses, oppresses, deprives you of joy, and sometimes amazes you. incurable disease. There are no barriers that prevent the attraction into the life of every person of events and situations that occur in the very unexpected place, in accordance with his true essence and way of thinking.
Having allowed the arrested man to finish, Pilate changed his original plan and decided not to argue with him, but to finish the interrogation. He said:
- “So you claim that you did not call for destroying... or setting fire, or destroying the temple in any other way?
“I, the hegemon, never called for such actions, I repeat.”
“So swear on your life that this didn’t happen,” said the procurator and smiled some kind of terrible smile. “–It’s time to swear by it, since it’s hanging by a thread, remember that.
-Don't you think that you have hung her up, hegemon? - asked the prisoner. – If this is so, then you are very mistaken.
Pilate shuddered and answered through clenched teeth:
- But I can easily cut this hair.
“And you’re wrong about that,” the prisoner objected, smiling brightly, “will you agree that only the one who hung you can probably cut the hair?”
“So, so,” said Pilate, smiling, “now I have no doubt that the idle onlookers in Yershalaim were following on your heels.” After these words, already in his bright head, a sentence formula clearly formed. And he immediately voiced it for the record: the hegemon looked into the case of the wandering philosopher Yeshua and did not find any corpus delicti in it.
“Everything about him?” Pilate asked the secretary.
“No, unfortunately,” the secretary unexpectedly answered and handed Pilate another piece of parchment.”
Having read what was submitted, Pilate’s face changed.
“Listen, Yeshua,” the procurator spoke, “have you ever said anything about the great Caesar?” Do you know a certain Judas from the city of Kiriath, and what exactly did you tell him about Caesar?
“Among other things, I said,” answered Yeshua, “that people sincerely believe that only power can protect them and give them well-being.” They believe that the stronger the government, the more guarantees they have for their prosperous existence. But people's faith is blind and equates truth and lies. And just because they believe it, it doesn’t become the truth. Since the truth is that all power is violence against people. And that the time will come when there will be no power, neither Caesar nor any other. But now people are so deceived by this illusion that they cannot imagine their lives without someone being in charge. They create a hierarchy of power. And they crown it with God himself - the Great and terrible taskmaster, who shows his “love” by mercilessly punishing for sins and disobedience. But as soon as a hierarchy is created, laws and rules regulating it are immediately required. The established subordination and set of orders do not strengthen or develop normal human relationships based on kindness and love, but destroy them. Cold primitive logic, imposed by a set of laws and orders, becomes the basis of the world order. And in this basis of the world order there is no place left for either kindness or love, since these concepts and logic are incompatible, because they manifest themselves and act contrary to it. Therefore, people have almost forgotten how to interact with each other without taking into account subordination, hierarchy and power. And people can only dream about true relationships among themselves, like a miracle, hoping to find them in heaven.
A set of laws, orders and rules cannot give people freedom, but can only be guaranteed to give them the right to judge without seeing or knowing true reasons, motives and consequences. And feel superior to the condemned, convincing yourself that they are superior and live by higher standards.
This body of laws can operate and rely only on authority and force. Since power is a tool that allows some people to force others to carry out their will. This tool allows the cowardly and evil people who have crept to the top of power and do not risk their health and life to send other people into bloody massacres. Or commit other crimes and unseemly acts in large quantities with complete impunity in the name of satisfying their base ambitions and stroking their pride. This is the only reason why the world is full of grief and suffering, blood flows like a river, and there is no end in sight to these massacres.
Because these people, using power and force, protect themselves from the slightest risk, and with the permission of the laws they themselves invented, they mercilessly throw millions of people into bloody slaughter. But, depriving people of the life given to them by God, they do not know what they are doing. And the hierarchy of power they created limits the freedom of the surviving people and eliminates their equality, devaluing the lives of people at the very bottom. This is the essence of the human state, in which legally, without even trying to hide, evil exists. And people are hopelessly bogged down in this disastrous essence.
But God does not need slaves who are submissive to his will and subordinate to subordination, but he needs brothers and sisters who are not burdened by any schemes or rules. They are free to simply be in relationship with each other and with God, and no one should be left out. The dominant and only feeling should be comprehensive, selfless love, not demanding anything in return. Then the kingdom of truth will come,” Yeshua said and fell silent.
“It will never come!” Pilate suddenly shouted in such a terrible voice that Yeshua recoiled...
“Would you let me go, hegemon,” the prisoner suddenly asked, ... I see that they want to kill me.”
Pilate's face was distorted by a spasm and he said:
“Do you believe, unfortunate one, that the Roman procurator will release the man who said what you said?... Or do you think that I am ready to take your place? I do not share your thoughts.”
And turning to the secretary, Pilate announced that he was approving the death sentence for the criminal Yeshua.
After the verdict was announced and a short pause, Pilate, looking at the arrested man, was again amazed by Yeshua’s behavior. He did not sob, did not cry and did not beg for mercy, but looked at the procurator as if nothing had happened and he had not just been sentenced to death.
“I feel sorry for you,” the arrested man suddenly said, turning to Pilate. -You live in a palace and have armed guards, but you are a slave. You are a slave to the system you serve, you are a slave to evil and inhumane laws, you are a slave to your wrong thoughts. All your life you serve evil, which exists and rules in the state you protect legally and which forces you to do what you do not want and what your essence opposes. That's why you hate both your position and this city. And this hatred poisons your life.
Pilate did not answer; he only looked at the arrested man and forced him to be taken away.
Pilate himself, listening to the arrested man, realized that some kind of force came from the arrested man and his words, which made him, Pilate, feel like a little boy, listening to the instructions of a wise father, who had once again gotten himself into the mud. Looking at the retreating prisoner, it seemed to Pilate that it was not two guards leading the condemned man, but an important person solemnly accompanying guard of honor. And when the arrested man came out of the balcony, a beam of light ignited the dust hanging in the air above his head in the form of a light disk.
During his life, P. Pilate signed the death warrant for many. And he never had any regrets or repentance. None other than today. Unusual man, unusual conversation, unusual behavior. There was a feeling of unsaidness left.
-We need to talk to him in more detail. “That’s what the procurator thought.”
But for this, Yeshua must be saved. He will force the high priest of Judea to release him in honor of the upcoming Passover. This thought seemed to him the only correct one, and he ordered the High Priest of Judea, Joseph Caiaphas, to be summoned to him.

Reviews

Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Sergey. Oh, if this text were in the Scriptures, surely the misconceptions of people would have come to an end long ago. It's as if you wrote new book Life.
It’s strange how many “believers” who have never read Old Testament. When I first read it, I was horrified: it was not God who led the Jews, but Satan: murder, capture, robbery. “And a bridle will be on a person, leading him into error. For the same veil is not removed when reading the Old Testament.”
When reading the New Testament, I.Kh.’s words jar: The Father and I are one. I accept one thing: God is Love (and people create it, living in kindness - the energy of love, creation). This true God will not direct people through the prophets to kill others. “And you will know the true God,” and not what has filled the minds of many peoples. Surprisingly, the Bible itself exposes this evil, but it feels like it is being read with your eyes closed.
Thank you again, Sergey, for your worthy work. I wish you all the best! With deep respect, Valentina.

In the novel M.A. Bulgakov's "The Master and Margarita" we are transported from the events of the twenties of the XX century to biblical times and we see that moral problems have not changed for centuries. They are depicted by the author with such psychological precision that the reader vividly perceives both periods - the period of Woland’s appearance in Moscow and the period of Yeshua’s execution. The heroes and times are different, but the essence is the same.
The scene of the interrogation of Yeshua in the palace of Herod the Great in Yershalaim is located almost at the very beginning of the novel, but we already feel these people, their thoughts and inner world. The words are so precisely chosen that they read like poetry: “In a white cloak with a bloody lining, early in the morning of the fourteenth day of the spring month, Pontius Pilate, the procurator of Judea, came out into the covered colonnade between the two wings of the palace of Herod the Great.” The procurator has a terrible headache, and he is haunted by the smell of rose oil, which he hates - it is clearly going to be a bad day. However, things cannot wait; the procurator needs to decide who will be executed on Bald Mountain. The accused is brought in for questioning. “This man was dressed in an old and torn blue chiton. His head was covered with a white bandage with a strap around his forehead, and his hands were tied behind his back. The man had a large bruise under his left eye, and in the corner of his mouth there was an abrasion with dried blood." This is how we first meet Yeshua. He allegedly persuaded the people to destroy the Yershalaim temple. Despite all the tension in the situation, Yeshua calls the procurator " a good man," for which he is subjected to severe punishment. Of course, no one has ever called the procurator a good man; he should be called "hegemon," and everyone considers him a ferocious monster. It is difficult to disagree with this definition. Pontius Pilate lives by his own laws, he knows that the world is divided into people who have power and those who obey.The formula “the slave obeys the master” is unchanged.
And now Yeshua again stands in front of the chair in which the procurator, exhausted by a headache, sits. He names himself, his place of birth, and answers questions from Pontius Pilate. From the very beginning of the interrogation, we have an amazing feeling of the verisimilitude of what is happening, we see the palace, the scorching sun, we smell the rose oil. The procurator is tense and upset, but Yeshua is amazingly calm and thorough. He says that he did not persuade anyone to destroy the temple and argued that “the temple of the old faith will collapse and a new temple of truth will be created,” and that this confusion is due to the fact that Matthew Levi writes it down incorrectly.
The story of Levi Matthew, a tax collector who threw money on the ground and followed Yeshua to travel, arouses the distrust of the procurator. He is sure that this could not have happened, because Yeshua, in his opinion, is an ordinary vagabond and a criminal worthy of contempt. But this tramp suddenly reads the procurator’s thoughts - about the headache, and about his beloved dog, and about the cup of poison. Moreover, Pontius Pilate’s headache goes away. Yeshua has enormous power influence on people. And now the secretary, recording the progress of the interrogation, throws down his pen and “stretched his neck like a goose, trying not to utter a single word.” Moreover, the tramp dares to suggest: “Some new thoughts came to my mind, and I would be willing to share them with you, especially since you give the impression of a very smart person.” And one more thing: “The trouble is that you are too closed and have completely lost faith in people. Your life is meager, hegemon.” Is this madness or something inexplicable? The procurator does not understand this; Yeshua’s speeches leave him completely confused. No one ever dared to tell him this. And the reaction of the procurator is unusual - Pilate is trying to save Yeshua, declare him crazy and not approve his death sentence. Of course, Yeshua is eccentric and naive, his speeches are somewhat seditious, but he miraculously can relieve headaches. This is how the procurator explains his decision to himself, but it seems that Yeshua’s influence had its effect and even the unshakable and evil procurator could not resist him.
The salvation of Yeshua was almost a done deal, and Pilate already wanted to dictate his decision to the secretary, but this turned out to be impossible. Judas from Kariath presented such a denunciation against Yeshua that it was impossible not to execute him. “All power is violence against people and that the time will come when there will be no power either by Caesars or by any other power. Man will move into the kingdom of truth and justice, where no power will be needed at all.”
Hearing this, the procurator loses his composure. He is forced, against his will, to approve the death sentence. "Criminal!" This is the procurator shouting so that he can be heard in the garden. He does not want to execute Yeshua, but he goes against his convictions, he has no other choice, he himself is afraid of denunciation, he is afraid of ruining his own career - quite understandable human feelings. But if he knew who signed the death warrant!
As a result of this interrogation, Yeshua was executed. But why does the procurator continue to suffer? Why does he dream that he did not kill poor Yeshua, and they walk together along the lunar path and talk peacefully? Why does the procurator laugh and cry with joy in this dream? His power, in which he himself believed so much, turned out to be fragile, like glass. Now his conscience torments him, he will never have peace. No one can kill the son of God with impunity!