An Imperial Message

This parable by Kafka is written simply, yet is almost impossibly difficult to fully understand. I think that this story is open to many different interpretations, because Kafka never really explains his true purpose to us. I found it interesting that he wanted to destroy these writings before he died, but they were still published after his death.
I think that Kafka is playing on the idea that humans are distant or removed from God in this lifetime. If the Emperor represents God in this story, then he is claiming that God is dead, or dying. But in what sense? Does he mean that God is dead in our eyes, or that he literally does not exist? I think Kafka is trying to tell us that if God had a message for us, humankind would not be able to grasp it or comprehend it in its full complexity and true nature. I think he is also saying that it is impossible to reach every person and make them understand your message, or whomever's message it may be. The "Emperor's messenger" is running a hopeless race in trying to deliver the "message" to all of the world. Kafka says it well when he states that the "world [is] crammed to bursting with its own refuse". There is a lot of crap in this world that people get stuck or slowed down in, inhibiting them from noticing the true nature of the world around them. It is impossible, in my opinion, to understand the full spectrum of reality in the current human condition.
Many figures in history have played the role of "messenger" in many different ways. Some were messengers of peace and justice, others messengers of death and destruction. But I think Einstein said it best; "Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods".