Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Matthew 12:38-40.
Despite all the miracles, signs, and wonders performed by Jesus, the Pharisees and scribes of Israel could not believe He was Messiah, but instead asked for a sign. Jesus called them evil and adulterous for asking for additional proof, because as God's covenant partner (Israel was considered God's wife), they of all people should've had eyes to see and ears to hear. The only sign they would be given was the sign of Jonah, who was in the belly of the whale for three days and three nights.
I'm sure the prophet Jonah had no idea that his life was a prophetic metaphor for the coming savior, and yet it was. Jesus declared that as Jonah was in the whale's belly, He, the son of man, would likewise be three days and nights in the belly of the earth, meaning the tomb. But then after that time, He would be resurrected and would preach the Word to Israel and the world, just as Jonah was spit forth from the whale's mouth and preached repentance to Nineveh!
So many of us have been taught that Jesus died on a Friday, was in the tomb on Saturday, and then was raised up on Sunday. For years I had wondered how Jesus could've been in the belly of the earth for three days and three nights if He died in accordance with this time line. Fortunately, after some research and digging into the truth, I discovered what many have come to believe, that He in fact died on Passover of 30 AD, which is a Wednesday, making the Scripture absolutely true!
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