Did Jesus Redeem Mankind? — Page 162
162 alive, staying in the tomb alive and rising from the tomb alive; it indicated yet another fact-the fourth and by far the most important, that like the Prophet Jonah, the Messiah will go to the lost tribes of Israel and communicate to them the word of God and that they will hear him and that it will be a sign which the lost sheep of Israel will witness as did the people of Nineveh. At a glance it will be apparent that the Messiah had to go through similar happenings. . Messiah was born in Palestine. His tongue was Hebrew. . His mother was also in Palestine and so was his so-called father as also the other sons of this father and his cousins. Besides, they had there all the people of their tribe, their native customs, their own culture and tradition. All these things have very great importance and one is deeply attached to these. But the country to which he was being deputed was a foreign land and the Messiah had no connection with it. There was a vast divergence between the language of Afghanistan and that of. Palestine. The two had nothing in common. The Israelites had through inter-mingling adopted the customs and traditions and culture of the Buddhists and other people and reconverting them was no ordinary job. Besides, the way to. Afghanistan and Kashmir from Palestine was difficult and full of hazards. There existed no facilities and on top of it the long journey of two and a half thousand miles was a hard task. Therefore the Messiah was afraid of setting out to. Afghanistan and Kashmir as was the Prophet Jonah afraid of going to Nineveh. For, by going over there, he to give up his tongue, leave his people and his dear and near ones. An easy course was that the Messiah should live among his own people and staying back in Palestine continue preaching to the Jews. But as the Prophet Jonah sought to evade and