Page 1 of 1

The Coming of the Messiah

Franz Kafka

The Messiah will come as soon as the most unbridled individualism

of faith becomes possible—when there is no one to destroy this possibility
and no one to suffer its destruction; hence the graves will open themselves.
This, perhaps, is Christian doctrine too, applying as much to the actual
presentation of the example to be emulated, which is an individualistic
example, as to the symbolic presentation of the resurrection of the
Mediator in the single individual.
The Messiah will come only when he is no longer necessary; he will
come only on the day after his arrival; he will come, not on the last day,
but on the very last.

The Basic Kafka. (1979). N.Y.: Washington Square Press ( p. 182)