AND WHAT DOES HE MEAN ‘IN THE HEART OF THE EARTH’? (MATTHEW 12:40)

 

When Jesus said, “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:40), He created what appears to be a mathematical puzzle. If Jesus was crucified on Friday afternoon and rose Sunday morning, that’s barely 36 hours—not three full days and nights. Was Jesus mistaken? And what exactly did He mean by “the heart of the earth”?

 

UNDERSTANDING ANCIENT JEWISH TIME RECKONING

The apparent contradiction dissolves when we understand how Jews in Jesus’ time counted days. They practiced what scholars call “inclusive reckoning”—any part of a day was counted as a whole day. This wasn’t fuzzy math; it was standard cultural practice.

We see this throughout Scripture:

• In Esther 4:16, Esther calls for a fast for “three days, night and day,” yet in 5:1, she appears before the king “on the third day”—not after a full 72 hours.
• In 1 Samuel 30:12-13, a period described as “three days and three nights” is also called “three days ago.”

Jesus Himself repeatedly said He would rise “on the third day” (Matthew 16:21, 17:23, 20:19), not after three full days. In the Jewish mind, “three days and three nights” was an idiomatic expression that could refer to a period covering parts of three calendar days.

 

THE TIMELINE OF JESUS’ DEATH AND RESURRECTION

Let’s examine how the Gospels describe the timeline:

• Day 1 (Friday): Jesus dies around the ninth hour (3 p.m., Matthew 27:46-50) and is buried before sunset (Mark 15:42-46).
• Day 2 (Saturday): Jesus’ body remains in the tomb for the entire Sabbath day.
• Day 3 (Sunday): Women discover the empty tomb “very early in the morning” (Luke 24:1-3).

By Jewish reckoning, this sequence perfectly fulfils “three days and three nights” because it touches parts of three calendar days. The phrase wasn’t meant to indicate 72 exact hours but rather a period spanning three days.

 

WHAT DOES “HEART OF THE EARTH” MEAN?

The phrase “heart of the earth” has generated several interpretations:

• The Tomb: Most straightforwardly, it refers to Jesus’ burial in the grave, literally placed within the earth.
• Jerusalem/Under Human Authority: Some scholars suggest it refers to Jerusalem as the heart of the world and describes Jesus’ time under the power of sinful men, beginning with His arrest on Thursday night.
• The Realm of the Dead: Others connect it to Christ’s descent to the realm of the dead mentioned in Ephesians 4:9 (“He also descended into the lower parts of the earth”) and 1 Peter 3:19 (He “went and preached to the spirits in prison”).

Scripture supports elements of all three views, but the primary thrust aligns with Christ’s state of death and burial, directly paralleling Jonah’s experience in the fish. Just as Jonah was in a place of death before his “resurrection,” so was Jesus.

 

THE SIGN OF JONAH: MORE THAN JUST TIMING

The parallel to Jonah goes deeper than chronology. Consider these facts:

• Jonah “died” (figuratively) and was “resurrected” as a sign to Nineveh.
• Jesus truly died and rose as a sign to “this generation” (Matthew 12:39).
• Jonah’s ordeal led to the salvation of Gentiles.
• Jesus’ death and resurrection opened salvation to all nations.

Hosea prophesied, “After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up” (Hosea 6:2), foreshadowing the resurrection timeline. The Apostle Paul affirmed Jesus “was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:4).

 

THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS: WHY THIS MATTERS

This isn’t just scholarly nit-picking over ancient idioms. Jesus’ precise fulfilment of this prophecy demonstrates:

• The reliability of Christ’s words, properly understood in their cultural context
• God’s sovereign control over history’s most pivotal moment
• The unity of Scripture across both Testaments

When we understand Jewish time reckoning and the rich symbolism of the Jonah parallel, we see Jesus wasn’t mistaken at all. Rather, He perfectly fulfilled both His own prophecy and the divine pattern established throughout Scripture.

The sign of Jonah wasn’t ultimately about counting hours—it was about death followed by triumphant resurrection. It pointed to Christ’s victory over sin and death on our behalf. The One who emerged from “the heart of the earth” now offers eternal life to all who believe.

 

THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS: RELATED FAQs

Did Jesus make other prophecies about His death and resurrection that align with the “three days” timeline? Yes, Jesus repeatedly foretold His death and resurrection with remarkable consistency. In Matthew 16:21, He said He “must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things… and be killed, and be raised again the third day.” He repeated this in Matthew 17:23 and 20:19. Most significantly, Jesus told the Jews, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19), which John explains was about “the temple of His body” (John 2:21). These multiple prophecies, all of which were fulfilled precisely, demonstrate Jesus’ foreknowledge and the divine plan behind His sacrifice.

 How does Jesus’ “three days and three nights” prophecy connect to the Passover and the Feast of Firstfruits? Jesus’ crucifixion occurred during Passover, when sacrificial lambs were slain, directly fulfilling His role as the ultimate Passover Lamb (1 Corinthians 5:7). His resurrection occurred on the day of the Feast of Firstfruits, which always fell on the first day after the Sabbath following Passover. Paul explicitly connects Jesus to this feast: “Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:20). The timing wasn’t coincidental—it was a divine fulfillment of the festivals God had established centuries earlier.

 Why did Jesus specifically choose the sign of Jonah rather than another Old Testament parallel? Jonah’s experience uniquely foreshadowed Christ’s death and resurrection in several ways: both involved a willing sacrifice for the salvation of others, both spent time in a place of death (fish/tomb), both emerged alive through divine intervention, and both experiences led to the conversion of Gentiles. Additionally, Jonah was the only Old Testament figure whose “three-day death and restoration” experience was explicitly characterised as a “sign” to unbelievers. By referencing Jonah, Jesus was pointing to the evangelistic purpose of His resurrection—it would be evidence to convince an unbelieving generation.

Were there other “third day” prophecies or patterns in the Old Testament that pointed to Christ’s resurrection? Yes, the “third day” carries symbolic significance throughout Scripture. Besides Jonah and Hosea 6:2 (“on the third day He will raise us up”), we see Abraham receiving Isaac back figuratively “from the dead” on the third day (Genesis 22:4; Hebrews 11:19), Israel preparing to receive God’s covenant at Sinai on the third day (Exodus 19:11), and numerous other third-day deliverances. These established a biblical pattern suggesting the third day as God’s appointed time for completion, deliverance, and resurrection—a pattern ultimately fulfilled in Christ.

How did Jesus’ enemies understand His prophecy about rising in three days? Interestingly, Jesus’ opponents recalled His prophecy about rising after three days more carefully than His own disciples. Matthew 27:62-66 records the chief priests and Pharisees requesting a guard for the tomb, saying, “Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise.’” Their concern about this prophecy led to the sealing of the tomb and posting of guards—actions that ultimately provided additional witnesses to the resurrection and disproved theories of body theft.

What significance does the precise fulfilment of Jesus’ time prophecies have for interpreting other biblical prophecies? Jesus’ precise fulfilment of His “three days” prophecy (according to Jewish reckoning) provides a model for understanding biblical prophecy more broadly. It reminds us prophecies are often fulfilled:

• According to cultural understandings of the time
• With multiple layers of meaning (literal, typological, spiritual)
• With precision regarding the divine intent, if not always according to modern literal expectations
• In ways that reveal God’s sovereignty over history

This helps us approach unfulfilled prophecies with both confidence in their reliability and humility about our interpretations.

How does understanding the “three days and three nights” prophecy strengthen the historical case for the resurrection? The early church proclaimed Christ’s death and resurrection “according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4), emphasizing the fulfilment of specific prophecies, including the timeline. This presents a powerful apologetic argument: if early Christians were fabricating the resurrection story, they would likely have adjusted their timeline to match a literal 72-hour interpretation of “three days and three nights” rather than the seemingly problematic Friday-Sunday chronology. The fact that they maintained this timeline despite the apparent discrepancy suggests they were reporting actual events rather than constructing a narrative. The cultural understanding of “three days” explains the apparent discrepancy and strengthens the historical credibility of the Gospel accounts.

 

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