Where Did Jesus Die? — Page 160
? 160 but literally as well. For centuries, they had been away from the Holy Land. No wonder, Jesus enjoined his disciples to ‘Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel’ (Matt 10:6). Jesus even foretold that he would go in search of those who were lost from the Israelites and would find them. He says, ‘And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice’ ( John 10:16). As, according to his aforesaid statement, he was sent to the Israelites only, these other sheep, not belonging to the Palestinian Jews therefore were from the lost ten tribes dispersed in other countries. A similar conclusion can be drawn from another saying of Jesus (Matt 13:57): A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country. To believe, therefore, that Jesus did not go to another country where he was honoured, is tantamount to believing that he passed away without honour. His saying, that his case, in view of the plot of his enemies to destroy him, would be similar to the case of the prophet Jonah, also reveals that as Jonah was honoured by his people after he had been in the belly of the whale, likewise Jesus would be honoured by the lost sheep of the House of Israel after he had been in the heart of the earth; i. e. , hewn chamber serv- ing for a tomb. And so it happened. He went to other countries where the lost sheep lived and was hallowed by them. The story of the wise men from the East who visited Palestine at the birth of Jesus (who evidently were Israelites, because no nation besides them expected the appearance of the Messiah and because of their saying, ‘Where is he that is born King of the Jews?’) contained a