The Sign of Jonah as a Literal Time Period

by Gerald Brown

Matthew 12:22-36 and Luke 11:14-26 tells the story of Jesus healing a man who was both blind and deaf, and that He cast out the demon who possessed him. Seeing this, the people began to wonder if Jesus wasn't the promised Son of David. But the Pharisees suggest that Jesus was given power to cast out this demon only because Beelzebul gave Him power to do so. Jesus replies that to cast out demons by the power of Beelzebul would be to have a house divided against itself which will soon fall apart. He also raised the question regarding by whose power they cast out demons.

As soon as Jesus finished with his explanation, the scribes and Pharisees ask Jesus for a sign that He is sent from heaven. Matthew 12:38 & Luke 11:29. It seems incredible that they could ask Jesus to perform a miracle when they had the very evidence before them in the man who had been healed of blindness, deafness, and the demon. Jesus replied that they would not see a miracle except the sign of Jonah. Then He goes on to specify that just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the Earth.

The Christian church has historically viewed the "three days and three nights" of Matthew 12:39-40 as an idiomatic expression rather than a literal time period. The traditional view that Jesus was placed in the tomb on Friday afternoon, rested in the tomb over the Sabbath, and was resurrected on Sunday morning has been presented as the fulfillment of this prophecy. All readily agree that the Friday afternoon through Sunday morning time span is not literally "three days and three nights," but it is widely taught that this is all that is needed to satisfy the terms of the prophecy.

But, is it possible that the traditional view is incorrect, that what is called an idiomatic expression should be taken literally? Could it be that the traditional view has incorrectly concluded that Jesus was buried late Friday and rose Sunday morning when describing the sequence of events for Passion Week? Did Jesus not intend his listeners to look for a literal time period when He cited the "three days and three nights" Jonah was in the belly of the whale as the exact time He would be in the grave? He stated the "three days and three nights" time period twice which should lead us to take this time span very seriously. Here are some statements and questions to consider.

1. The traditional view regarding the time Jesus was in the tomb does not agree with the words of Jesus. So, what is a believer to do? Should one dismiss or edit the meaning of the words of Jesus in order to embrace the traditional view? Or should one cling to the words of Jesus and call into question the traditional view? Is it possible that there actually were three days and three nights between the time Jesus was placed in the grave and His resurrection just as He said there would be?

2. The doctrines we embrace are to be based on the most sound evidence and reasoning, and are always to be subject to investigation. Isaiah 1:18, Romans 3:4. Those who teach scripture are to be vigorous in the presentation of the truth to those who will listen.

3. If the "three days and three nights" is an idiomatic expression with a meaning different from the literal words, why didn't Jesus choose a story from scripture that better fit the actual time he would be in the tomb as the sign that He was sent from God? For other stories with a three-day time frame see Genesis 42:17-18, 1 Samuel 30:12, 2 Kings 20:5, Esther 4:16 & 5:1, Ezra 8:15 & 8:32-33, Nehemiah 2:11, and Hosea 6:2. Didn't Jesus know these other stories in scriptures? If He did, why did He choose to quote from Jonah which has the most specific time factor of any of these three-day stories?

The story of Joseph putting his brothers in prison for three days and visiting them on the third day seems to be the closest to the traditional view of the time Jesus was in the tomb. Why didn't Jesus say, "Just as Joseph put his brothers in prison for three days, so shall the Son of man be in the heart of the Earth for three days"?

4. Many commentaries cite the preaching of Jonah as the "sign of Jonah." But contrary to the widely accepted notion that the sign of Jonah was the preaching of Jonah to the people of Nineveh, Jesus pointed to the experience Jonah had with the fish, especially the time of "three days and three nights", as the sign of Jonah. Jesus applied that same time period to the time He would be in the tomb. Why did Jesus say "just as Jonah..." if it was not just that same time period of three days and three nights that He wanted them to look to as the evidence that He was sent from God? Jesus points them to this very time period as the only piece of future evidence that He is sent from God.

The three days and three nights that Jonah was in the fish is the evidence that the people of Nineveh looked to which convinced them that Jonah was sent to them from God. Because of the events of Jonah and the fish, the people of Nineveh knew that (1) Jonah did not want to be in Nineveh, (2) God (Elohim-the God of creation, not Yahweh-the God of Israel) would not release Jonah from his mission to Nineveh, and (3) his mission was not to spy on the Ninevites or subvert their government in favor of the nation of Israel. Thus, Jonah was not viewed by the people of Nineveh as a threat to them for any political gain. This understanding was promoted by the testimony of the Gentiles on the boat which gave credibility to the story of Jonah when he arrived in Nineveh. Jonah's credibility was secured by the events of the boat and fish. Even though his message appeared to be a failure, the people of Nineveh did not rebel against Jonah when their city was not destroyed or revert back to their evil ways because they knew from the fish story that Jonah's message was from God.

5. Jesus stated that everything He taught He was directed to teach by the Father. John 12:44-50. See also John 8:13-16 and 14:8-11. The Father is witness to the teaching of Jesus and the Father has directed us through an audible declaration at the mount of transfiguration to listen to Him (Matthew 17:2-5, Mark 9:2-8, and Luke 9:28-36). Scripture requires that two witnesses are necessary to validate a claim. (See Numbers 35:30, Deuteronomy 17:6, 19:15, John 8:17, and 2 Corinthians 13:1.) Here we have Jesus and the Father in agreement about the teaching of Jesus and we are instructed to listen to Him. Moreover, the Father's testimony regarding Jesus is stronger than the testimony of any number of human witnesses. See 1 John 5:9. Did the Father make a mistake in directing Jesus to cite the "three days and three nights" of Jonah as the time period He would be in the tomb? Or did Jesus misunderstand the Father regarding which story to cite and/or the actual literal time period He would be in the tomb? What does it say about us if we attempt to edit the meaning of the words of Jesus--especially for something so important as the sign Jesus points to that He is sent from the Father?

6. The "three days and three nights" is traditionally explained to be just any part of three consecutive days. But Jesus was specific to cite the day and night, and in Jeremiah 33:19-22, God told Jeremiah that He has a covenant with the day and a covenant with the night. God knows the difference between the day and the night and we are not able to break or change the covenant He has with either. The entire chapter of Jeremiah 33 is a messianic prophecy which has direct application to Jesus who was widely acknowledged to the be the Son of David (Matthew 1:1; 9:27; 12:23; 15:22; 20:30-31; 21:9, 15; 22:42; Mark 10:47-48; 12:35; Luke 1:32; 18:38-39; and Romans 1:3) and a priest after the order of Melchizedek (Psalm 110:4, Hebrews 5:6, 10; 6:20; and 7:1-17). If God's covenant with either the day or the night can be broken, then God says the covenant with David's descendants is also broken which necessarily means that there is no Messiah and no priest after the order of Melchizedek. Why should the explanation of the "three days and three nights" to mean "just three days" not be understood as an attempt to break the covenant God has with the day and/or the covenant God has with the night? Is this not another way of thinking to change times?

7. How does God count time or reckon a day? While some use of the word "day" may be generic, when God is teaching us His ways it is very specific. See Genesis 1 and Leviticus 23:32. A day is from evening to evening, approximately 24 hours. In John 11:9-10, Jesus and His disciples understood a "day" to be the twelve hours of sunlight and the "night" to be the twelve hours of darkness; and the two combined make up a full 24 hour day. If Jesus understood that it was acceptable to think of the "three days and three nights" as merely parts of three days, then why would He mention both the day and night parts of these three days as if they are equal to each other?

8. The traditional view claims that the Jews counted time by the method of "inclusive reckoning" whereby any part of a day counts for the entire day. However, several places talk about the "watch" as a time period of a day (Matthew 14:25; 24:43; Mark 6:48; 13:35; and Luke 12:38). These show that the Jews had a timing of "watches" during the day and night. These were in three-hour segments with four segments per day and four per night. It was a very orderly system and not a haphazard sometime, anytime way of counting time. So if "any part of a day counts as a whole day" as the method of inclusive reckoning argues, then how would one know when to be on watch? If you were scheduled for the third watch for three days, and your brother was scheduled for the third watch for three nights, how much work would you do this week? How much time did the guards schedule to watch the tomb? 24 hours, 10 min.? 36 hours, 10 min.? (Friday night - Sunday morning)?

9. The notion that the Jews of the Second Temple Period typically counted consecutive days by the method of inclusive reckoning is contradicted by the ritual washing in the mikvah which Hebrew women were required to do on a regular basis. The ordinary method of counting can be seen in the language related to the time for cleansing. Historically, the orthodox Jewish people follow very strict rules with respect to ritual cleansings and the time required for certain acts to be completed. For example, in order for a wife to experience the Tevilah, the ritual cleansing after her monthly cycle, the law requires seven spotless days before she can immerse in the mikvah and be ritually clean. Leviticus 15:19-30. The Jews did not consider that any part of a day counts for a whole day in this situation. They understood that seven full days must be completed before the Tevilah could be done and no short cuts were allowed. This scripture certainly outlines the observance of these seven days stating that on the eighth day she is clean. If the method of counting by inclusive reckoning was commonly used, then she should be clean and eligible for washing in the Tevilah after the beginning of the seventh day, but scripture states she is unclean until the eighth day.

Likewise, Leviticus 22:27 says that a newborn bullock, sheep, or goat is to remain with its mother for seven days. If counting by inclusive reckoning was commonly used, then the offspring should be acceptable for a burnt offering after the beginning of the seventh day, but scripture states it is acceptable from the eighth day on. The Jewish method of counting consecutive days and/or parts of days was not limited to the concept of inclusive reckoning where any part of a day was considered equal to the complete calendar day. It appears that when a set number of days is specified, the time element must encompass the full number of the days stated. There is no reason to believe that this same principle does not apply to Jesus' declaration in Matthew 12:39-40 regarding the sign of Jonah. The three days and three nights Jesus was in the tomb appears to be a literal time period.

10. Some scripture specifies a night time context for an event (1 Samuel 15:11, Acts 9:23-25). Is it acceptable to describe that these events may have just as correctly taken place during the day for these stories? Isaiah 62:6 specifies that watchmen have been set over the walls of Jerusalem and shall not be silent day or night. Is it acceptable to truncate this "day or night" to just the "day" time? Or would that be a corruption of scripture?

11. Because the traditional view is emphatic that Jesus was buried late Friday and rose Sunday morning,, it is imperative that we address the problems imbedded in the concept of a Friday crucifixion and Sunday morning resurrection. This traditional teaching is not supported by scripture as completely as its advocates would have us believe and is based at least in part on FOTAP (the Fallacy Of The Assumed Premise). The Friday crucifixion - Sunday morning resurrection format is contrary to at least six (6) Bible passages: Matthew 12:38-40, Luke 11:29-30, Matthew 16:4, Matthew 27:63, Mark 10:34, and Luke 24:21.

12. If the preparation day was Friday and the Sabbath of Passover that year fell on the weekly Sabbath, then what does one do with John 12:1 which states that Jesus arrived in Bethany six days before Passover? If Passover coincides with the weekly Sabbath and Jesus arrived in Bethany six days before Passover, then Jesus arrived in Bethany on the first day of the week which the traditional view calls Sunday. John 12:12-15 identifies that the triumphal entry was the day after His arrival in Bethany which would be the second day of the week and not Sunday which means there was no such thing as Palm Sunday. Either John 12:1 is in error, John 12:12-15 is in error, or the traditional view that Passover that year coincided with the weekly Sabbath is in error.

13. Scripture identifies that Jesus was crucified on "paraskene", which is the "preparation" (Matthew 27:62, Mark 15:42, Luke 23:54, John 19:14, 31, 42). Scripture never uses the word "Friday". The traditional view teaches that this preparation day could only have been the preparation day for the weekly Sabbath, thus it was Friday. But most Greek-English lexicons and dictionaries define "paraskene" as the preparation day for either a festival or the weekly Sabbath. Jesus was crucified on the preparation day for the Passover festival, rather than on the preparation day for the weekly Sabbath. John 19:14 is explicit that the day Jesus died was the "preparation of the Passover". With all the other evidence that the Sabbath of Passover this year did not coincide with the weekly Sabbath, it is not possible that the preparation day for the Passover this year was on the sixth day of the week.

14. The events of Jesus' death and resurrection occur as part of the celebration of Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The sequence of events of Passover in the Old Testament serve as a model for the events of Passion Week. Jesus is our Passover sacrificed for us (1 Corinthians 5:7), and the lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world (John 1:29 & Revelation 13:8). At the Exodus experience, the lamb was selected on the 10th of the month (Exodus 12:3), sacrificed on the 14th of the month (Exodus 12:6), and the Passover meal eaten on the 15th of the month (Exodus 12:8-12). The Wave Sheaf offering was made on the "day after the Sabbath" (Leviticus 12:11). While the separation day, preparation day, and meal day are all assigned to specific dates, no date is assigned to this Sabbath which means it probably refers to the weekly Sabbath which would fall on a different date each year. According to this model, there is ample opportunity for three days and three nights to transpire between the time Jesus is placed in the tomb and His resurrection.

15. The day the Death Angel passed over Egypt and took the lives of the first-born was the 15^th of the month and this is when, still at night, the people of Israel began to leave Egypt. Numbers 33:3. However, the people of Israel were instructed to keep Passover on the 14^th of the month. Leviticus 23:5; Numbers 9:5; 28:16; Joshua 5:10; 2 Chronicles 30:15; 35:1; Ezra 6:19; Ezekiel 45:21. Passover, then, inherently involves two days: the 14^th day of the month is the day the Paschal lamb is slain and its body prepared for the meal (Exodus 12:6), while the 15^th day of the month is the day the meal was eaten at night and the Death Angel passed over the land of Egypt. The 15^th of the month is also the first Holy Convocation day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread and is an annual Sabbath of the LORD. Thus the 14^th of the month is the preparation day (a "paraskene") for Passover, while the 15^th of the month is the Passover day and the first Sabbath of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. It is not possible to eat the Passover meal on the 15^th without first having prepared the meal on the 14^th. The annual festivals of the LORD, such as Passover, are tied to the new moon and not the weekly cycle of days. Passover and its preparation day could fall on any two consecutive days of the week. In most years, this Sabbath of Passover would not coincide with the weekly Sabbath.

16. The Feast of Unleavened Bread begins on the 15^th of the month, which is the first holy convocation day, kodesh mikraw, or Sabbath, and continues seven days through the 21^st of the month, which is the second holy convocation day, kodesh mikraw, or Sabbath. The other days of this festival season are work days except for the weekly Sabbath that would occur sometime during the seven days of the festival. The entire festival is a season of celebration to the LORD, but the ordinary days of the festival are bounded by a "high day" (holy convocation day, kodesh mikraw, or Sabbath) at the beginning of the festival and a "high day" at the end of the festival and a weekly Sabbath sometime during the festival.

17. Jesus was selected as the lamb privately at the feast at Simon's home when Mary anointed Him (John 12:7), and publicly by the crowds at the Triumphal Entry (Matthew 21:1-9, Mark 11:1-10, Luke 19:28-44, John 12:12-16). His crucifixion was on the 14th of the month regardless of which day of the week it happened to be. Because Jesus is the first fruits of the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:20-23, Hebrews 9:26, Revelation 13:8), His resurrection was on the day following the Sabbath regardless of which date that happened to be.

18. The gospels all state that Jesus was resurrected at the first of the week. In scripture the week begins with sunset at the close of the weekly Sabbath and both Matthew 28:1 and Mark 16:1 indicate that the tomb is found empty by the women at the close of the Sabbath. A careful reading of the Greek indicates that Jesus was resurrected after sunset, during the twilight portion on the first day of the week and not 12 hours later at sunrise. Space here does not allow a full explanation of the words, but here is my translation of the Greek.

Matthew 28:1—
Late on Sabbath, just in the waning light of the first of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher.

Mark 16:1—
And after the close of the Sabbath, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome bought perfumes that they might come and anoint Him.

Luke 24:1a—
Immediately after Sabbath sunset the women went to the tomb taking the spices they had prepared.

John 20:1—
Immediately at the first of the week, as it was getting dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone was removed from the tomb.

19. Another issue that the traditional view relies on is the various phrases that indicate the time span Jesus was in the tomb before His resurrection. In 19 of the 21 places in scripture where the three day time period is mentioned, the traditional view indicates that Jesus is said to have been resurrected before the three days was complete. However, 16 of those verses could just as correctly be translated three days later or after three days, and have been translated that way in some Bibles. See The Good News Bible, Edgar J. Goodspeed, James Moffatt, Modern Language Bible/New Berkeley Version, N.T. Wright, and Reuben J. Swanson. This is still under study. Here is a brief review of all 21 passages with the Greek text and the English translations as it has been rendered by some publication. Seven verses have the expression τη τριτη ημερα which is translated as either three days later or after three days. (Matthew 16:21, 17:23, 20:19, Luke 9:22, 24:7, 46, & Acts 10:40.)

Two verses have the expression τη ημερα τη τριτη which is translated as either three days later or after three days. (Luke 18:33 & 1 Corinthians 15:3-4.)

Two verses have the expression δια τριων ημερων which is translated as either three days later or after three days. (Matthew 26:61 & Mark 14:58.)

Four verses have the expression μετα τρεις ημερας which is the literal translation for after three days. (Matthew 27:63, Mark 8:31, 9:31, & 10:34.)
Four verses have the expression εν τρισιν ημεραις which is translated in three days. (Matthew 27:40, Mark 15:29, John 2:19 & 2:20.)

One verse has the expression εως της τριτης ημερας which is translated until the third day. (Matthew 27:64.)

One verse has the expression τριτην ταυτην ημεραν αγει αφ ου which is translated as three days have already passed. (Luke 24:21.)

Conclusion

The evidence presented here shows that the sign of Jonah was a literal time period which Jesus fulfilled perfectly. Jesus was crucified on the fourth day of the week (on what we generally call Wednesday), remained in the tomb for three full days, and was resurrected just after sunset at the close of the weekly Sabbath which also ended a literal three days and three nights in the tomb. If we count backwards three days from this time of His resurrection at the close of Sabbath, Jesus was placed in the tomb late on Wednesday afternoon just before sunset. This would be slightly more than 72 hours that Jesus would be in the tomb. The Sabbath of Passover that year would have begun at sunset that Wednesday and continued through the daylight portion of Thursday. The LORD's Supper that Jesus celebrated with His disciples in the upper room would have been celebrated on Tuesday evening, Jesus would have been arrested at midnight which began Wednesday, tried by the Sanhedrin in the wee hours of the night, at sunrise taken to Pilate and then Herod for their review and declaration of innocence, and crucified at mid-morning on Wednesday. Darkness covered the Earth at noon and lasted until His death at the time of the evening sacrifice which was mid-afternoon. After confirming His death, Pilate released His body to Joseph of Arimathea who, along with Nicodemus and John, prepared His body for burial and placed it in the tomb. They then rested on the Sabbath according to the LORD's command to do no servile work on the LORD's holy convocation days which are to be observed for all time to come. Exodus 12:14, Leviticus 23:5-7 & 14, and Isaiah 66:22-23.

In this sequence of events, the preparation day of Passover--the day the lamb is slain, roasted, and prepared for the Passover meal--is Wednesday. The Passover day and the first holy convocation day (kodesh mikraw, Sabbath) of the Feast of Unleavened Bread is Thursday. The six days before Passover of John 12:1 takes us back to the previous Friday when Jesus arrived in Bethany. Since the Sabbath of Passover is the 15th, six day before this would be Friday the 9th. John immediately describes the supper at Simon's home where Lazarus and Jesus were the guests of honor which was most likely a typical Jewish Erev Shabbat dinner on Friday night where Mary anointed Jesus. This Friday night would now be the 10th of the month, exactly the correct day the lamb was to be selected. The next afternoon, still the 10th of the month and still the Sabbath, the crowd gathered around Jesus for the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. The day of the Triumphal Entry was Palm Sabbath, not Palm Sunday. The enemy of the Sabbath has sought to exalt Sunday, the day of pagan sun worship, above the blessed, sacred day of God.

I'm sure the women who found the tomb empty tried to go to the tomb after the close of the Sabbath of Passover, but found the gates to the garden blocked by the Roman guards. They must have tried to get in on Friday as well, but without success. They finally gained entrance to the garden only after the resurrection when the soldiers were thrown to the ground as dead men and scurried off to tell Pilate what had happened. Scripture doesn't say anything about their unsuccessful attempts to enter the garden because the gospels are about Jesus and Jesus was merely resting in the tomb during those days.

Jesus' words are found to be completely true by this explanation. Jesus, the Father, and all of scripture are exonerated! Now, who do you suppose would be upset about that?