73. What was the origin of the custom of releasing a prisoner at the Feast as mentioned in Matthew 27:15?

There is no mention of the practice in secular history, but it is easy to see how it may have arisen.

In a conquered country it is to the interest of the conquerors to conciliate the people, and a governor wishing to make himself popular would please them if, at a time of public festivity, he granted them such a concession.

Generally, the man whose release was asked for would be some leader who had made himself obnoxious to the government by espousing the cause of the subject people.

The English government has several times tried to win the support of Irish members of Parliament by releasing some prisoner who has been sent to prison for sedition and has not served out his sentence.