St Matthew Passion – then the cock crows. In the morning (No. 41) Jesus is sent to Pontius Pilate while Judas is overcome by remorse and kills himself. Pilate interrogates Jesus (No. 43), is impressed and is inclined to release him, as it was customary to release one prisoner for the holiday, supported in this by his wife. But the crowd, given the choice to have Jesus released or Barabbas, a thief, insurrectionist and murderer, asks with one voice "Barrabam!". They vote to crucify Jesus, Pilate gives in, washing his hands claiming his innocence, and delivers Jesus to torture and crucifixion. On the
Pilate and Others the Moscow of the 1930s to deal in a hilarious manner with the corrupt lucky ones--the bureaucrats, toadies, poets, and profiteers--in the Stalinist era, a second one describing the internal struggles of Pontius Pilate before, during and after the conviction and crucifixion of Yeshua Ha Nozri (Jesus from Nazareth), and a third telling the story of the love between the "Master," an unnamed writer in Moscow during the 1930s and his beloved Margarita, who goes to extreme lengths to save her beloved. The Master has written a novel about Pontius Pilate, and is persecuted by the authorities and the Soviet