Suffering and the Sign of Jonah
If “the heart of the earth” refers to Jerusalem and its environs there is no problem then with Jesus spending three days and three nights there. In Matthean and Markan tradition, Jesus actually first arrived in Jerusalem at least five days before he was crucified (Matt 21:10; Mark 11:11; Cf. Luke 19:45). He eventually left the city to stay in Bethany (Matt 21:17; Mark 11:11). He then returned to Jerusalem a second time in that week (Matt 21:18; Mark 11:12,15, 27), and then left again to stay in Bethany (Matt 26:6; Mark 14:3). Jesus then returned to Jerusalem athird time in that week (Matt 26:20; Mark 14:17), but this time he did not return to Bethany. He travelled to the Mount of Olives and the field of Gethsemane (Matt 26:30, 36; Mark 14:32), but this was still considered within the boundaries of Jerusalem especially for the Passover (Jeremias, 1969, pp. 60-62). This third coming of Jesus to Jerusalem in the same week will therefore culminate in his arrest, trial, crucifixion, and burial (Matt 26:50, 57; 27:2, 28-29, 35, 59-60 par.). The third arrival of Jesus in Jerusalem in the same week therefore marks the beginning of a discrete and uniqueperiod of time in that he does not leave the city before being crucified. Thursday was the day that Jesus arrived in Jerusalem for the third and last time that week (Matt 26:2, 17, 20; Mark 14:1,12).
The interval “three days and three nights in the heart of earth” therefore refers only to a discrete and unique period of time in which Jesus’s body was located in Jerusalem prior to his resurrection. That period of time was from Thursday evening to Sunday morning. It included burial in the tomb, but only for part of that time.
Why is this final discrete and unique period compared to Jonah’s time in the belly of the great fish? Obviously because it was a time of suffering. Jesus’ suffering began in Jerusalem with the last supper on Thursday evening. The last supper may be characterized only as an occasion for emotional suffering, but it was suffering nevertheless. How easy could it have been to announce, “one of you will betray me” (Matt 26:21; Mark 14:18; cf. Luke 22:21)? His suffering intensifies through the time in Gethsemane (Matt 26:38; Mark 14:34; cf. Luke 22:42), and then, of course, through his arrest, scourging, and crucifixion (Matt 27:27-31; Mark 15:17-20; Luke 23:33; John 19:1-16 ). Even though it would make sense that Jesus’ death and burial marked the end of his suffering, his death and burial could still be considered part of the suffering. After all, he was waiting to be resurrected. On the other hand, there is Christian tradition that nevertheless depicts the period of Jesus’ death and burial as also a time of suffering (Luke 24:26; Acts 2:24; Phil 3:10; Heb 2:9).
Moreover, it was the suffering of Jesus that was witnessed by an “evil and adulterous generation.” Therefore, it was not the resurrection of Jesus, but his suffering that constituted the sign of Jonah . It is true that the last supper and his agony in Gethsemane occurred before Jesus was “betrayed into the hands of sinners” (Matt 26:46), that is to say before the stage where his suffering becomes a public spectacle. However, it was never required that unbelievers witness every moment of Jesus suffering for it to be a “sign.”
Further still, it is precisely because the suffering of Jesus was witnessed by an “evil and adulterous” generation that it also becomes a witness to that generation. In other words, the suffering of Jesus performed the role of Jonah’s preaching to the people of Nineveh. It should have moved “this evil and adulterous generation” to repentance; but it did not. Matthew is joined by Luke in expressing this irony (Luke 11:32; cf. Matt 12:41).
In Jonah 2:3 MT, the prophet cries out “from the belly ofSheol ” (מבטן שׂאול; LXX: ἐκ κοιλίας ᾅδου; “the belly of Hades”). This phrase is parallel to Jonah’s “heart of the seas.” It is likely that this parallel is echoed in the Matthean phrase, “heart of the earth.” Matthew draws a parallel between “the belly of the great fish” and “the heart of the earth” in 12:40. From a Matthean perspective, “Sheol, ” or “the belly of Sheol” would still be a metaphorical reference to Jerusalem, not to the tomb of Jesus alone, nor primarily to the underworld. Even in Jonah, “Sheol ” refers not primarily to the underworld, but to the great fish, the place of Jonah’s suffering. In Matthew, Jerusalem would be “Sheol ” for Jesus because it was the place of his suffering, especially from Thursday to Sunday. One may object to an implied parallel between Jerusalem and Jonah’s great fish in Matthew’s thought because Jerusalem was stationary and the great fish was mobile. Again, such an objection would miss the point of metaphor.