The famous novel by Mikhail Bulgakov undoubtedly won many hearts among readers. In this work, the author managed to reveal many problems that are still relevant today. Depict the inner world of good and evil, and of course, tell us about magical love.
It is worth noting that Bulgakov built his work on the basis of two stories intertwined with each other. We see that, on the one hand, the stories develop on their own, parallel to each other, because the characters do not intersect, the plots are not related to each other. However, on the other hand, we know that the two stories are one whole, despite the fact that we can safely separate them without harming the artistic outline of the novel.
You may ask, what is so special about the interweaving of two plots? Firstly, because the story of Yeshua Ha-Nozri and the procurator is the same novel that was first written and then burned by the Master, the main character of the novel “The Master and Margarita”. That is why the images of the Master and Yeshua Ha-Nozri have much in common, just like the Master and Bulgakov himself.
I would like to pay special attention to the plot associated with such heroes as Pontius Pilate and Yeshua Ha-Nozri, who appear repeatedly in the novel “The Master and Margarita”. Chapter 2 (“Pontius Pilate”) represents the beginning and development of the action. 16 (“Execution”) – the climax. Chapter 25 (“How the procurator tried to save Judas from Kiriath”) is the beginning of the action. And finally, chapter 26 (“Burial”) is the denouement. The novel is not very large in volume, so the author quickly clearly outlines the characters’ personalities without being distracted by details.
If we examine in detail the episode of Yeshua’s interrogation by the prosecutor in the palace, we can clearly see that the position of the author himself plays the main role here. At the same time, the narrator does not interfere in the description of the actions; he describes nature very detachedly, as if only with the purpose of showing the time of day (“the sun steadily rising above the equestrian statues of the hippodrome”).
It is worth paying attention to the description of the portraits, which are also given in a detached manner. Portraying a suffering face, the narrator only wanted to convey to the reader the thoughts of the prosecutor: “At the same time, the prosecutor 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.” However, the author himself does not draw any conclusions, giving the freedom to us, the readers, to do so: “... in some kind of sickening torment, I thought that the easiest way would be to expel this strange robber from the balcony, uttering only two words: “Hang him.”
It is important to emphasize that while the inner world of the procurator is revealed through the internal monologues and remarks of the narrator, the thoughts of Yeshua Ha-Nozri remain a mystery to the reader. But is it a secret? Isn't this way of depicting a hero the most accurate of characteristics? Let us remember that the procurator constantly takes his eyes off the accused. Either a too strong headache prevents him from concentrating his gaze, then he looks at the swallow flying under the palace colonnades, then at the sun, rising higher and higher above the horizon, then at the water in the fountain. Only when Pilate tries to save Ha-Nozri, who cured him of a terrible headache, does he direct his gaze directly: “Pilate drew out the word “not” a little longer than is appropriate in court, and sent Yeshua in his gaze some thought that seemed I would like to instill this in the prisoner.” But Yeshua does not hide his eyes, because whenever the procurator looked at him, he invariably came across the eyes of Ha-Nozri. This contrast between the procurator and the accused in behavior makes it clear that Yeshua says what he thinks, but Pilate is constantly in contradiction.
Undoubtedly, the trial of Yeshua itself is an interesting spectacle. We see that only at the beginning of the interrogation is Yeshua the accused. After he “healed” Pilate, the latter becomes the defendant. But the court of Ha-Nozri is not as harsh and final as the court of the procurator, Yeshua gives a “recipe” for headaches, instructs and releases Pilate with his blessing...
“The trouble is... that you are too closed and have completely lost faith in people... Your life is meager, hegemon,” Yeshua says these words to the procurator of Judea, the richest man after the Great Herod. Once again we are faced with a demonstration of Pilate's spiritual poverty when, fearing that he might suffer the same fate as Yeshua, he pronounces the death sentence.
Of course, he saw the defendant’s future, and very well: “So, it seemed to him that the prisoner’s head floated away somewhere, and another one appeared in its place. On this head sat a rare-toothed golden crown... Short, incoherent and extraordinary thoughts rushed: “Dead!”, and then: “Dead!..” And some completely ridiculous one among them about someone who must certainly be - and with whom? ! - immortality." Yes, then the procurator expelled the visions, but this should have been enough to understand that the truth cannot be subordinated to any laws, to any Herods.
And much later, Pilate spoke about the palace, which was built according to the king’s design: “Believe me, this crazy construction of Herod,” the procurator waved his hand along the colonnade, so that it became clear that he was talking about the palace, “positively brings me to mind. I can't sleep in it. The world has never known stranger architecture."
It is worth noting that, despite all his intelligence, the procurator is afraid of change. He leaves it to the system to punish Yeshua, and he washes his hands of it. That is why, before his death, Yeshua Ha-Nozri said: “Cowardice is the most terrible vice.”
Message quote
Let us now turn to the second storyline of M. A. Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita”. In the palace of Herod the Great, the procurator of Judea, Pontius Pilate, interrogates the arrested Yeshu Ha-Nozri, to whom the Sanhedrin sentenced him to death for insulting the authority of Caesar, and this sentence is sent for approval to Pilate.
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“The trouble is... that you are too closed and have completely lost faith in people... Your life is meager, hegemon,” this is what Yeshua says to the procurator of Judea, the richest man after the Great Herod. Pilate will demonstrate his poverty of spirit later, when, fearing that Yeshua’s fate might befall him, he pronounces a death sentence.Interrogating the arrested man, Pilate understands that this is not a robber who incited the people to disobedience, but a wandering philosopher preaching the kingdom of truth and justice. Artist Garbar David. Pontius Pilate and Yeshua ha Nozri (Jesus Christ)However, the Roman procurator cannot release a man accused of a crime against Caesar, and approves the death sentence. Then he turns to the Jewish high priest Caiaphas, who, in honor of the upcoming Passover holiday, can release one of the four criminals sentenced to death; Pilate asks that it be Ha-Nozri . However, Kaifa refuses him and releases the robber. Bar-Rabbana . At the top of Bald Mountain there are three crosses on which the condemned were crucified. After the crowd of onlookers who accompanied the procession to the place of execution returned to the city, only Yeshua’s disciple Levi Matvey, a former tax collector, remains on Bald Mountain. The executioner stabs the exhausted convicts to death, and a sudden downpour falls on the mountain. |
According to the Gospel legend, Pontius Pilate, forced to agree to the execution of Jesus, washed his hands in front of the crowd and said: “I am innocent of the blood of this Righteous One.” This is where the expression “I wash my hands” comes from to abdicate responsibility.
When the Apostle Thomas was told about the resurrection of the crucified Christ, he declared: “...unless I see in His hands the marks of the nails, and put my finger into His wounds, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”
Resurrection of Jesus Christ
The procurator calls Afranius, the head of his secret service, and instructs him to kill Judas from Kiriath, who received money from the Sanhedrin for allowing Yeshua to be arrested in his house Ha-Nozri . Soon, a young woman named Nisa allegedly accidentally meets Judas in the city and makes an appointment for him outside the city in the Garden of Gethsemane, where he is attacked by unknown assailants, stabbed to death and robbed of his wallet with money. After some time, Afranius reports to Pilate that Judas was stabbed to death, and a bag of money - thirty tetradrachms - was thrown into the high priest's house.
Matthew Levi is brought to Pilate, who shows the procurator a parchment with sermons he recorded. Ha-Nozri . “The most serious vice is cowardice,” reads the procurator.
Pontius Pilate
Magic black horses carry away Woland, his retinue, Margarita and the master. “Your novel has been read,” Woland says to the master, “and I would like to show you your hero. For about two thousand years he has been sitting on this platform and sees a lunar road in a dream and wants to walk along it and talk with a wandering philosopher. You can now end the novel with one sentence.” “Free! He is waiting for you!" - the master shouts, and over the black abyss an immense city with a garden lights up, to which a lunar road stretches, on which we see the procurator. He is neither in Hell nor in Heaven. He's in the middle. In thought.
And in Moscow, after Woland left her, the investigation into the criminal gang continues for a long time, but the measures taken to capture it do not yield results. Experienced psychiatrists come to the conclusion that the gang members were hypnotists of unprecedented power. Several years pass, the events of those May days begin to be forgotten, and only Professor Ivan Nikolaevich Ponyrev, the former poet Bezdomny, every year, as soon as the spring holiday full moon comes, appears on the Patriarch's Ponds and sits on the same bench where he first met Woland, and then, walking along the Arbat, he returns home and sees the same dream, in which Margarita, the Master, and Yeshua come to him
And the essence of his drama, to which he is doomed, lies precisely in the conflict between that natural, human that is still preserved in him, and the hypostasis of a politician. Once Pilate was a warrior, he knew how to value courage and he himself did not know fear. But he served a high position and was reborn.
The procurator was not afraid for his life - nothing threatened her - but for his career, when he had to decide whether to risk his position or send to death a man who had managed to conquer him with his intelligence, the amazing power of his word, a crime which in its essence did not deserve such a cruel punishment. True, this is not only the fault of the procurator, but also his misfortune. Cowardice is the main problem of Pontius Pilate. But is the once fearless horseman Golden Spear on the battlefield really a coward? “Cowardice is undoubtedly one of the most terrible vices,” Pontius Pilate hears Yeshua’s words in a dream. “No, philosopher, I object to you: this is the most terrible vice!” - the author of the book suddenly intervenes and speaks in his full voice.
Dialogue between Pontius Pilate and Yeshua Nozri
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,” Pilate 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 starting to fear that this confusion will continue for a very long time. And all because Matvey Levi writes down my notes incorrectly. I once looked at 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 him. After thinking a little, he said:
- But what did you say about the temple in the crowd at the bazaar? - the sick procurator asked in a hoarse voice 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 of the true faith would be created.” I said it this way to make it clearer.
-Why did you tramp confuse the people by telling about the truth about which you have no idea? What is 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 poisoning myself...” There was a pounding 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 your head hurts unbearably.” And it hurts so much that you, cowardly, think about suicide. Not only are you unable to speak to me, but you find it difficult 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 the 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, etc.
The purpose of the first lessons is to show how an independent work, in a certain sense, dedicated to the history of Yershalaim, is most closely intertwined with chapters telling about modernity.
Teacher's word
The novel, written by the Master, is the core on which the entire work rests. It is based on certain chapters of the New Testament. But the difference between a work of art and a theological work is obvious. The master creates an original work of art: the Gospel of John, which Bulgakov loved most, does not talk about the suffering of Pontius Pilate after the execution of Jesus.
Woland asks the Master: “What is the novel about?” What does he hear in response? "The Novel about Pontius Pilate." Consequently, it was the procurator of Judea who was the main character for the author himself, and not Yeshua Ha-Nozri. Why? This question will be answered in class.
Question
The master is not talking about God’s son; his hero is a simple man. Why? What problems will be resolved in Bulgakov's novel - theological or real, worldly?
Answer
The once disgraced novel is dedicated to earthly life, and it is no coincidence that the story of Yeshua and Pilate will unfold in parallel with the story of the Master and Margarita.
Chapters 2, 16, 25, 26, 32, and the epilogue are taken for analysis.
Exercise
A portrait is one of the ways to reveal the character of a hero; in it, the author reflects the inner state, the spiritual world of the person depicted. Let's see how the two heroes appear before the reader - Pontius Pilate, the procurator of Judea with unlimited power, and Yeshua Ha-Nozri, a wandering twenty-seven-year-old philosopher, who, by the will of fate, now finds himself before the eyes of the ruler.
Answer
“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.”
Second participant in this scene: “In a white cloak with a bloody lining and a shuffling cavalry gait, early in the morning of the fourteenth day of the spring month of Nisan, the procurator of Judea, Pontius Pilate, came out into the covered colonnade between the two wings of the palace of Herod the Great.”.
Teacher
One word in this description immediately attracts attention: the lining is “bloody”, not red, bright, purple, etc. The man is not afraid of blood: he, who has a “cavalry gait,” is a fearless warrior; it is not for nothing that he was nicknamed “Horseman of the Golden Spear.” But, probably, he is not only like this in relation to enemies in battle. He himself is ready to repeat about himself what others say about him, “a ferocious monster.”
But now he suffers from headaches. And the author will talk about his suffering, constantly referring to one detail of his portrait - his eyes.
Exercise
Let's follow through the text how the procurator's eyes change: “The swollen eyelid lifted, the eye, covered with a haze of suffering, stared at the arrested man. The other eye remained closed..." "Now both sick eyes looked heavily at the prisoner"... "He looked with dull eyes at the prisoner"...
It is the fact that Yeshua guessed about his suffering and freed the procurator from it that will make Pontius Pilate treat the arrested man differently than he probably treated similar people before. But the man standing in front of him also interested him with his speeches.
Question
Is the prisoner afraid of Pontius Pilate?
Answer
He is afraid to experience physical pain again (on the orders of the procurator, Ratboy beat him). But he will remain unshakable when he defends his view of the world, of faith, of truth. He carries an inner strength that compels people to listen to him.
Question
What fact, mentioned by Yeshua himself, confirms that he knows how to convince people?
Answer
This is the story of Matthew Levi. “Initially, he treated me with hostility and even insulted me... however, after listening to me, he began to soften... finally threw the money on the road and said that he would travel with me... He said that from now on money became hateful to him.”
When asked by Pilate whether it is true that he, Yeshua Ha-Nozri, called for the destruction of the temple, he replies: “...said that the temple of the old faith would collapse and a new temple of truth would be created”. The word has been spoken. “Why did you, tramp, confuse people at the market by talking about the truth about which you have no idea? What is truth?.
Yeshua declares that the truth is, first of all, that Pilate has a headache. It turns out that he can save the ruler from this pain. And he continues the conversation with the “tramp” about the truth.
Question
How does Yeshua develop this concept?
Answer
For Yeshua, the truth is that no one can control his life: “...you must admit that cutting the thread” on which life hangs, “probably only can be cut by the one who hung it”. For Yeshua the truth is that “There are no evil people in the world”. And if he had talked to Ratkiller, he would have changed dramatically. It is significant that Yeshua speaks of this “dreamingly.” He is ready to move towards this truth with the help of conviction and words. This is his life's work.
“Some new thoughts came to my mind that might, I think, seem interesting to you, and I would be happy to share them with you, especially since you give the impression of a very smart person... The trouble is that you are too closed and completely lost faith in people. You can’t, you see, put all your affection into a dog. Your life is meager, hegemon.”
Question
After this part of the conversation, Pontius Pilate makes a decision in favor of Yeshua. Which?
Answer
Declare the wandering philosopher mentally ill, without finding any corpus delicti in his case, and, removing him from Yershalaim, subject him to imprisonment where the residence of the procurator was located. Why? You want to keep such a person with you. Pilate, who sees around him only those who fear him, can afford the pleasure of having a person of independent views nearby.
Question
But everything cannot be resolved so peacefully, because life is cruel and people who have power are afraid of losing it. At what point will Pontius Pilate's mood change? Why would he be forced to abandon his original decision? Let's follow this through the text.
Answer
The secretary, who takes notes during the interrogation, also sympathizes with Yeshua. Now he will “unexpectedly” and regretfully answer negatively to Pilate’s question: “Is everything about him?” - and will give him another piece of parchment. “What else is there?” – Pilate asked and frowned. “After reading 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 sunken.
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...”
This is how Pilate sees Caesar, and therefore does not serve him out of respect. And then why?
“And something strange happened to the hearing - it was as if trumpets were playing quietly and menacingly in the distance, and a nasal voice was very clearly heard, arrogantly drawing out the words: “The Law of lese majeste””...
Question
What did Pontius Pilate read in this parchment?
Answer
Yeshua will say this out loud a little later, and it turns out that the conversation about the truth is not yet over.
“Among other things, I said... that all power is violence against people and that the time will come when there will be no power either of the Caesars or of any other power. Man will move into the kingdom of truth and justice, where no power will be needed at all.”
Question
Does Pontius accept this truth?
Answer
“Do you believe, unfortunate one, that the Roman procurator will release a 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!..”
Question
What happened to the procurator? Why did he, a few minutes ago, prompt Yeshua with a saving answer: “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 was appropriate in court, and sent Yeshua in his gaze some thought that he seemed to want to instill in the prisoner.”, - why will Pilate now approve the death sentence?
Answer
Being a brave warrior on the battlefield, the procurator is a coward when it comes to Caesar and power. For Pilate, the place he occupies is a “golden cage.” He is so afraid for himself that he will go against his conscience.
Teacher's comment
No one can make a person freer than he is free internally. But Pontius Pilate is internally unfree. Therefore he will betray Yeshua.
There are people who commit such betrayals calmly: Judas does not suffer morally by selling Yeshua. But Pontius Pilate is one of those people who have a conscience. That is why, realizing that he will be forced to pass judgment on Yeshua, he knows in advance that along with the death of the wandering philosopher, his own death will come - only a moral one.
“The 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.”
And after the Sanhedrin confirmed its decision regarding the execution of Yeshua and the release of Bar-Rabban, “The same incomprehensible melancholy... permeated his entire being. He immediately tried to explain it, and the explanation was strange: it seemed vague to the procurator that he had not finished speaking to the convict about something, or perhaps he had not heard something out.
Pilate drove away this thought, and it flew away in an instant, just as it had arrived. She flew away, and the melancholy remained unexplained, because it could not be explained by some other short thought that flashed like lightning and immediately went out: “Immortality... Immortality has come... Whose immortality has come? The procurator did not understand this, but the thought of this mysterious immortality made him feel cold in the sun.”
Question
Why does the possibility of immortality not please a person, but give rise to horror in his soul?
Answer
A conscientious person cannot live with a stone in his soul. And now Pilate is sure that he will have no peace day or night. He will try to somehow soften his “sentence”; he even threatens Caif: “Take care of yourself, high priest... There will be no peace for you... from now on! Neither you nor your people... will regret that you sent the philosopher to death with his peaceful preaching.”
Question
What other action will Pilate perform in an attempt to alleviate the torment of his conscience?
Answer
He orders the suffering of Yeshua, crucified on a pillar, to end. But everything is in vain. This is nothing compared to the words that Yeshua, before his death, asks to convey to Pilate.
Exercise
We will find these words in chapter 25. They will be repeated to the procurator of Judea by Afranius, the head of the secret service.
Answer
“Did he try to preach anything in the presence of the soldiers? - No, hegemon, he was not verbose this time. The only thing he said was that among human vices, he considers cowardice to be one of the most important.”
Teacher's comment
This is retribution. It is impossible to escape from him. You, Rider of the Golden Spear, are a coward and are now forced to agree with this description of yourself. What can you do now? Something for which Caesar will not punish, but which will at least somehow help him, Pilate, justify himself. What order and how will he give to the chief of the secret police? Let's read this dialogue between two smart people who respect and understand each other, but are still afraid to speak openly. This conversation is full of omissions and half-hints. But Afranius will understand his master perfectly.
“And yet he will be killed today,” Pilate repeated stubbornly, “I have a presentiment, I tell you!” There was no chance that it deceived me,” then a spasm passed over the procurator’s face, and he briefly rubbed his hands. “I’m listening,” the guest responded obediently, stood up, straightened up and suddenly asked sternly: “So they’ll kill you, hegemon?” “Yes,” answered Pilate, “and all hope lies only in your diligence, which amazes everyone.”
The efficiency of the head of the secret police did not fail this time. (Chapter 29.) At night, Afranius reported to Pilate that, unfortunately, “he was unable to save Judas from Cariath, he was stabbed to death.” And his boss, who cannot and does not want to ever forgive the sins of his subordinates, will say: “You did everything you could, and no one in the world,” here the procurator smiled, “could have done more than you!” Recover from the detectives who lost Judas. But even here, I warn you, I would not want the punishment to be even the least severe. In the end, we did everything to take care of this scoundrel.".
In the chapters we are considering, there is another hero. This is Levi Matvey.
Question
How will Matthew Levi behave when he learns about the inevitability of Yeshua’s death?
Answer
The former tax collector followed the procession of convicts all the way to Bald Mountain. He “made a naive attempt, pretending that he did not understand the irritated shouts, to break through between the soldiers to the very place of execution, where the convicts were already being removed from the cart. For this, he received a heavy blow to the chest with the blunt end of a spear and jumped away from the soldiers, screaming, not from pain, but from despair. He looked at the legionnaire who hit him with a dull and completely indifferent gaze, like a man insensitive to physical pain.”
He managed to settle into a crevice on a rock. The man’s torment was so great that at times he began to talk to himself.
“Oh, I’m a fool! - he muttered, swinging on a stone in mental pain and scratching his dark chest with his nails, - a fool, an unreasonable woman, a coward! I am carrion, not a man."
Question
What does Levi Matvey want most of all, having realized that he cannot save his teacher?
Answer
"God! Why are you angry with him? Send him death". And then he dreams of jumping on the cart. “Then Yeshua is saved from torment. One moment is enough to stab Yeshua in the back, shouting to him: “Yeshua! I save you and leave with you! I, Matvey, are your faithful and only student!” And if God had blessed him with one more free moment, he would have had time to stab himself himself, avoiding death on the stake. However, the latter was of little interest to Levi, the former tax collector. He didn't care how he died. All he wanted was for Yeshua, who had never done the slightest harm to anyone in his life, to escape torture.”
Question
How will Levi Matvey fulfill his last duty to his teacher?
Answer
He will remove his body from the pillar and carry it from the top of the mountain.
Question
Let us remember the conversation that took place between Pontius Pilate and Matthew Levi. (Chapter 26). Why can we say that Matthew Levi is truly a worthy disciple of Yeshua?
Answer
He will behave proudly and will not be afraid of Pilate. He was as tired as a man can be who thinks of death as a rest. At Pilate's offer to serve him ( “I have a large library in Caesarea, I am very rich and I want to take you into my service. You will sort and store papyri, you will be fed and clothed.") Levi Matvey will refuse.
"- Why? - The procurator asked, darkening his face, - I am unpleasant to you, are you afraid of me?
The same bad smile distorted Levi's face, and he said:
- No, because you will be afraid of me. It won’t be very easy for you to look me in the face after you killed him.”
And Pontius Pilate only momentarily realizes his triumph over Levi, when he responds to his statement about the desire to kill Judas that he has already done it.
Question
How did fate punish Pilate for his cowardice? (Chapter 32).
Answer
Woland, his retinue, the Master and Margarita, rushing on magic horses in the night, see in the light of the moon a sitting man, and next to him a dog. Woland will tell the Master: “...I wanted to show you your hero. For about two thousand years he sits on this platform and sleeps, but when the full moon comes, as you can see, he is tormented by insomnia. She torments not only him, but his faithful guardian, the dog. If it is true that cowardice is the most serious vice, then perhaps the dog is not to blame for it. The only thing the brave dog is afraid of is thunderstorms. Well, the one who loves must share the fate of the one he loves.”
When asked by Margarita what this man is talking about, Woland replies that “to his usual speech about the moon, he often adds that most of all in the world he hates his immortality and unheard-of glory.”
Pilate long ago, immediately after the death of Yeshua, realized that he was right when he argued that cowardice is one of the most terrible vices. And even more: “Philosopher, I object to you: this is the most terrible vice”. And for the most terrible vice, a person pays with immortality.
(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?” – the sick procurator asked in a hoarse voice 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 the 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.
With absolute power, he could easily gather dozens of learned philosophers with all their various concepts at any time. But he didn’t need it at all. He considered himself a sane person, and all these people engaged in arguing and proving the correctness of their ideas were useless slackers, spending their entire lives delving into their manuscripts and having no effect 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 we put all the various philosophical theories on one side of the scale, along with his own, and on the other side 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 of a single world. And every smallest element of this mosaic, regardless of how people themselves evaluate it, deserves only the condition in which it is found.
Replacing the perception of the real world with their own individual 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 spend most of their lives chastising and judging. People judge each other's distinctive characteristics: way of thinking, nationality, language, skin color, appearance, motives and actions, drowning in the illusion that they really know the whole truth and are administering a 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, sometimes striking you with an incurable disease. There are no barriers that prevent the attraction of events and situations into the life of every person that occur in the most 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. Because 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 the true causes, 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 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 slaughter. 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 evil exists legally, without even trying to hide. 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 accompanied by a 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. An unusual person, an unusual conversation, an 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 like you’ve written a new book of Life.
It’s strange how many “believers” there are who have never read the 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.
Sections: Literature
- show how an independent work dedicated to Yershalaim history is intertwined with chapters on modernity;
- the novel belonging to the Master is the core of the entire work;
- the difference between a work of art and a theological work.
- find out what truth is.
Equipment and visibility:
- illustrations of Ivanov’s paintings “The Appearance of Christ to the People”, Kramskoy “Christ in the Desert”, Ge “What is Truth”;
- board design: interpretation of the word “truth” and epigraph.
Its theme is the theme of general
human responsibility
for the destiny of goodness and beauty,
truths in the human world.
I. Vinogradov.
The Master's Testament. 1968
Teacher's word. We begin a conversation about the novel by M. Bulgakov, which rethought the gospel story. During the lesson we will pay special attention to artistic means and vocabulary work. Now the whole class is divided into 2 groups:
Group 1 answers questions related to the image of Yeshua Ha Notsri, group 2 analyzes episodes that reveal the image of Pontius Pilate. (See attached questions for questions)
– Identify the main characters of Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita” (the answer to this question will help determine the theme, idea of the work, its problems, and understand the plot lines).
- So who are the heroes?
- Let's see if you're right. Woland asks the Master: “What is the novel about?” And what does he hear in response? (“The novel about Pontius Pilate,” the Master’s remark)
The master creates an original work. The Gospel of John, which Bulgakov loved, does not talk about the suffering of Pontius Pilate.
So, it was the procurator of Judea who was the main character for the author himself, and not Yeshua Ha Nozri. Why? We will find out this in our further conversation.
What detail is important to reveal the character of the hero?
You know well that a portrait is of great importance in revealing the character of a hero, his inner world. How do the two heroes appear before us - Pontius Pilate and Yeshua Ga Notsri, a wandering 27-year-old philosopher who found himself before the eyes of the ruler. What does this mean?
a) “this man was dressed...” (ch.2)
– The Master is not talking about God’s son, his hero is an ordinary, simple person. Why? What problems will be solved: theological or real, worldly?
(the novel is dedicated to earthly life, the story of Yeshua and Pilate will unfold in parallel with the story of the Master and Margarita.)
– What detail in the description attracts attention? (bloody lining, not red, not bright... This is one of the symbols that carries a certain load).
– What does this mean? ( the man is not afraid of blood, he is a fearless warrior, it is not for nothing that he was nicknamed “Horseman of the Golden Spear.” He himself is ready to repeat about himself what others say about him: “a ferocious monster”).
Now he suffers from a headache, the author talks about this, referring to one detail of his portrait - his eyes. And this detail plays a huge role in the characterization of the hero. Watch how his eyes change. What does this detail do? (ch.2) ( Painful eyes. It was this detail that helped Yeshua guess about Pilate’s suffering and free him from it. And P.P. began to treat the arrested person differently from other people like Yeshua. The man standing in front of the procurator interested him with his speeches).
– Is the prisoner afraid of Pontius Pilate? (ch.2) ( With P.P. he speaks calmly. He is afraid to experience physical pain. But he is unshakable when he defends his view of the world, the truth. He has an inner strength that makes others listen to him).
– What fact confirms that he knows how to convince people? (story of Matthew Levi, chapter 2). And then the Procurator asks the question whether it is true that he, Yeshua Ha-Nozri, called for the destruction of the temple, he answered: “I, the teacher, ...ch2)
– After these words, the question arises: what is truth?
– The purpose of our lesson is to understand what truth is? Whose position is closer to us: Bulgakov or his heroes. Let's try to formulate this concept. ( I give 1-2 minutes; write down the sentence as you understand this word. Everyone writes down, then reads.)
– Everyone understands the truth in their own way. This is how the dictionary interprets this concept. ( There is a note on the board: Truth: 1) what exists in reality, reflects reality, truth. 2) a statement, a judgment, verified by practice, experience).
– The theme of goodness and truth is reflected not only in fiction, but also in art. The artist Ivanov in his painting “The Appearance of Christ to the People” gives his concept of truth. Truth is what was originally given from God, this truth is carried by the Son of God.
Kramskoy in his canvas “Christ in the Desert” showed the tragedy of the thinking man of his era. Exhausted, having washed away the sins of the world with tears and torment, in humble simplicity he brings the truth to the world. The biblical theme is also reflected in Ge’s painting “What is Truth?”
– Something surprising arises in the conversation between Pontius Pilate and Yeshua. What will Yeshua answer to this ironic question from the procurator?
What does Yeshua say about this? (Find Yeshua's answer in chapter 2.)
– Why is the answer amazing? – The fact that an abstract, distant concept - truth - turns out to be alive, the fact that it is now the truth, and what then? Here it is - in the pain that debilitates you. Truth turned out to be a human concept; it comes from a person and is locked in him. Why does Pontius have a headache: from roses - a symbol of the Christian faith, truth. And further Yeshua develops this concept and says that for Yeshua the truth is that “there are no evil people in the world.” And if he had talked to Rat-Slayer, he would have sharply changed his view. He is ready to move towards the truth with the help of conviction and words. This is his life's work. (p. 23 chapter 2) “Some thoughts came to my mind...”
– Pontius Pilate after this part of the conversation makes a decision in favor of Yeshua. Which? Why? (p.26 chapter 2)
Declare Yeshua mentally ill, without finding evidence of a crime, remove him from Yershalaim and place him in his residence. To keep him with him because the only people around him are those who are afraid of him, and he can afford the pleasure of having a person with independent views nearby.
“But everything cannot be resolved this way; people who have power are afraid of losing it. At what point will Pilate's mood change? Why is he forced to abandon this decision? Let's follow the text. The secretary, taking notes during the interrogation, sympathizes with him (pp. 26-27, chapter 2)
This is how Pilate sees Caesar, and therefore does not serve him out of respect. Then why?
– Later Yeshua will say this out loud, the conversation about the truth is not finished. ("Among others…)
– Does Pontius need such truth? (no, confirm your answer with words from the text)
– What suddenly happened to the procurator? A few minutes ago, he himself suggested to Yeshua a way out, a saving answer? (p. 27. “Listen, Ga Notsri,” he suddenly spoke...)
Why is Pilate now approving the death sentence?
Pilate is a brave warrior on the battlefield, but a coward when it comes to Caesar's power. For him, the place he occupies is a “golden cage”; he is so afraid for himself that he will even go against his conscience. Pontius Pilate is not internally free, so he will now sell Yeshua. There are people who commit such betrayals calmly. Judas does not suffer morally by betraying Yeshua. Pontius Pilate is among the people who have a conscience. Forced to pass judgment on Yeshua, he knows that along with the death of the wandering philosopher, his own death will come, but only a moral one. (p. 27 “Thoughts ran short...).
– After the Sanhedrin approved the execution decision, some incomprehensible melancholy pierced his entire being, it seemed to him that he had not finished speaking to the condemned man, had not listened to something. This thought flew away, and the melancholy remained unexplained. Another thought came, the thought of immortality. But whose immortality has come? The procurator did not understand this. (Ch. 2)
– Why does the possibility of immortality not make a person happy, but gives rise to horror in his soul? ( A conscientious person cannot live with a stone in his soul. Already now Pilate knows that he will have no peace day or night. He is trying to soften his “sentence” (chapter 2)
– What other act will Pilate commit, trying to alleviate the pangs of conscience? ( He orders the suffering of Yeshua, crucified on a pillar, to end. But everything is in vain. This is nothing compared to the words that Yeshua conveys before his death. And these same words will be repeated by Afranius, head of the secret police of Pontius Pilate. (Ch. 2)
-Watch how Pilate’s voice changes? Why? What came to Pilate with this? What does this detail – the voice – mean? (Retribution has come. It is impossible to escape from it. The Horseman of the Golden Spear is forced to agree that he is a coward).
What can you do now? Something for which Caesar will not punish, but which will at least somehow help Pilate justify himself. What order and how does he give to the chief of the secret police? (The conversation is full of omissions, half-hints. But Afranius will understand his master. (Ch. 25). Afrania's diligence did not disappoint this time either. At night, Afranius reported to Pilate that, unfortunately, “he was unable to save Judas from Cariath; he was stabbed to death at night.” (Ch. 26 p. 311)
Let's leave Pontius Pilate for a moment and remember another hero - Matthew Levi. How will Matthew Levi behave when he learns about the inevitability of Yeshua’s death? ( The former tax collector followed the procession of convicts all the way to Bald Mountain. He made an attempt to break through to the place of execution. For this he received a heavy blow to the chest with the blunt end of a spear and jumped back, and looked at the legionnaire with a dull, indifferent gaze to everything, like a person insensitive to physical pain (chapter 16 p. 169). Matvey wants most of all (chap. 16). And further - ch. 16 p. 171.
– How will Levi Matvey fulfill his last duty to his teacher? ( He will remove Yeshua's body and carry it away from the top of the mountain. This is how the problem of loyalty and betrayal is solved.)
– Remember what conversation took place between Pontius Pilate and Levi? (chapter 26)
– Why can we say that Matvey Levi is a worthy student? ( Levi will behave proudly and will not be afraid of Pilate. He was as tired as a man can be who thinks of death as a rest. Levi refuses Pilate’s offer to serve him “chapter 26 p. 317”. Only once does Pontius realize his triumph over Levi when he says that he killed Judas).
– How did fate punish Pilate for his cowardice? Let's turn to chapter 32 “Forgiveness and eternal peace.” ( Woland and his retinue ride on magic horses...). To Margarita’s question: “What is he saying?”, Woland answers: chapter 32 p. 367. Pilate long ago, immediately after the death of Yeshua, realized that he was right when he argued that cowardice is a great sin, and for this a person pays with immortality).
– Do you remember that the topic of immortality has always worried people. Immortality was often punished for a person who had committed evil in life. Already in the Bible there is a similar story dedicated to Cain and Abel. God makes Cain immortal to punish him for killing Abel. Cain is tormented by repentance, but death does not come as a deliverance from torment.
– Which literary heroes suffered a similar fate? ( M. Gorky “Old Woman Izergil”, legend of Larra).
So. Pontius Pilate has been suffering for about two thousand years. And Margarita, traveling with Woland, asks to let him go (chapter 32).
– Will the procurator of Judea calm down now? Why don't these words end the stories of Pontius Pilate and Yeshua? What episode will conclude the novel written by the Master? ( epilogue).
So, it is not enough for Pontius Pilate that he was forgiven. The soul will calm down when Yeshua tells him that there was no execution.
– Let’s summarize what has been said. Why did Bulgakov need such an artistic device - parallel to the narrative of modernity, to also carry on the line of a novel written by the Master and telling about events that took place two thousand years ago? ( The novel is dedicated to eternal problems; they exist in the present just as they did thousands of years ago. It will take a long time for humanity to reach the truth and whether it will come to its knowledge is unknown).
– What are these problems: (make a diagram or table...)
Lesson summary. General question: “What is the meaning of the Gospel story reproduced by the author in the novel?”
Homework. Select material relating to a) the history of the Master; b) depiction of the world of art in the novel c) the general atmosphere of life in the 30s of the 20th century, using Ch. 5,6,7,9,13,27.
References:
- Magazine “Literature at School” for 1990-1993.
- N.V. Egorova. Lesson developments on Russian literature of the 20th century. Grade 11. Moscow 2005.
- V.V. Agenosov. Russian literature of the 20th century. Grade 11. Bustard, 2007.