Did Jesus Redeem Mankind? — Page 156
156 failed to show the sign of the Prophet Jonah; but if he showed the sign of the Prophet Jonah and did not die on the Cross, nor did he stay dead in the tomb, the theory of redemption is finished. For, atonement stands proved only when it is accepted that the Messiah bore the sins of people by hanging on the Cross. If, however, he remained alive, it is clearly established that he offered no sacrifice and when no sacrifice was offered, redemption is automatically ruled out. . In short, the incident of the Cross which Christians hold forth goes wholly against the signs shown by Jonah and promised by Messiah to his people. . MESSIAH SHOWED JONAS'S SIGN. Now we would examine whether the purport of the prophecy relating to the Prophet Jonas deduced by us has been touched upon in any prophecy of the Messiah. When we carefully ponder over the New Testament, we are wonderstruck to find the Messiah saying the same thing. Further, even the Prophets who preceded the Messiah and foretold of his advent, have hinted at it. For instance Isaiah says: "The. Lord God which gathered the outcast of Israel saith, Yet will. I gather others to him, beside those that are gathered unto him" (Isaiah, ch. 56:8). . Here the Prophet Isaiah foretells of a time when Lord God would again gather together the lost sheep of Israel and will send a prophet around whom they will all gather. The prophecy of Isaiah here relates to the Messiah, for, there has been none besides him, to claim that he had come to gather the lost sheep of Israel. These lost sheep are the ten tribes of Israel which the then Iraq State destroyed in a campaign in. Nebuchadnezzar's period. A deplorable feature of this