The contradiction between the words of Christ, and the actions of those who claim leadership of the church and the village lead Manolios and his friends to ask dangerous questions. The elders, as elders tend to do, are reluctant to give up any power, and not inclined to accept theological analysis from those who they command. Eventually, the passion is acted out for real, with Manolios accused of treason and the sleepy Turkish overlord acting the part of Pilate to perfection. Liberation Theology is a term we associate with the Roman Catholic church in Latin America, but I would suggest that this work, dating from 1953, has anticipated the movement in amazing detail. So, think of it as another novel, or philosophical tract.
Night has fallen, the day's work is done.
I return like a mole to my home, the ground. Not because I am tired and cannot work. I am not tired. But the sun has set. It is our duty to set ourselves an end beyond our individual concerns, beyond our convenient, agreeable habits, higher than our own selves, and disdaining laughter, hunger, even death, to toil night and day to attain that end.