Holy Lance
The name of the soldier who pierced Christ's side with a "lonchē" is not given in the Gospel of John, but in the oldest known references to the legend, the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus appended to late manuscripts of the 4th century "Acts of Pilate", the soldier is identified as a centurion and called Longinus (making the spear's Latin name "Lancea Longini").
Jesus Christ Superstar
At Jesus's trial, Pilate interrogates Jesus into revealing the whereabouts of his kingdom, but was cut off by a bloodthirsty mob who demands that Jesus should be sentenced to death by crucifixion. In spite of the mob’s behavior, Pilate remembers the dream he had about the mob and the unjust execution of Jesus. Pilate tells the mob that, while Jesus should be imprisoned, he does not deserve to die. Pilate demands that the crowd give him a reason to condemn Jesus, and the mob answers that Jesus is a blasphemer and has defied the Roman Empire. However, after revealing Jesus as nothing more than a pathetic human being, Pilate calls the crowd hypocrites, as he knows they hate Roman rule. Even so, he decides to satisfy their bloodlust by having Jesus flogged, counting thirty-nine bloody strokes ("Trial Before Pilate, (Including The Thirty-Nine Lashes)"). Pilate, clearly disturbed by the whole ordeal, pleads with Jesus to defend himself, but Jesus says weakly that everything has been determined, by God, and Pilate cannot change it. More outraged by Jesus's words, the crowd still calls for Jesus's death, informing Pilate that he has his duty to keep the peace. Finally, he reluctantly agrees to crucify Jesus to keep the crowd from getting violent, saying to Jesus: "Don’t let me stop your great self-destruction! Die if you want to, you misguided martyr! I wash my hands of your demolition! Die if you want to, you – innocent puppet..."