Jonah, Jesus, and 3 days

[Elzee]

I was asked for help in understanding a couple bible verses by an evangelical / fundamentalist friend of mine - I don’t have much to go on but I thought you all could help. I would love to be able to help him (not often he asks a Catholic for help).

He said he was just thinking one day that there is a verse in the bible that says something to the effect of ‘*Just as Jonah was in the whale for 3 days and 3 nights, so will the Son of Man…’ *
Neither of us could remember where this verse is or its exact words (that’s my first question - I haven’t found it yet), but his main question was this:
Jesus didn’t have 3 full NIGHTS (or 3 full days for that matter) in the tomb until he rose, so how can this Scripture makes sense.

I told him perhaps, in Jesus’ time, they described partial days as a ‘day’ and that accounts for the 3 days, but his specific question was *‘but the bible says 3 days and 3 nights’. *

Anyone know where this verse is, and how to explain these two verses in light of each other to a fundamentalist.

 

[Pixie_Dust]

I was asked for help in understanding a couple bible verses by an evangelical / fundamentalist friend of mine - I don’t have much to go on but I thought you all could help. I would love to be able to help him (not often he asks a Catholic for help).

He said he was just thinking one day that there is a verse in the bible that says something to the effect of ‘*Just as Jonah was in the whale for 3 days and 3 nights, so will the Son of Man…’ *
Neither of us could remember where this verse is or its exact words (that’s my first question - I haven’t found it yet), but his main question was this:
Jesus didn’t have 3 full NIGHTS (or 3 full days for that matter) in the tomb until he rose, so how can this Scripture makes sense.

I told him perhaps, in Jesus’ time, they described partial days as a ‘day’ and that accounts for the 3 days, but his specific question was *‘but the bible says 3 days and 3 nights’. *

Anyone know where this verse is, and how to explain these two verses in light of each other to a fundamentalist.

Jesus says it in Matthew 12:40. It’s a Jewish idiom and doesn’t mean literally three 24 hour days and nights. If you look at Esther 4:16, she sends a message to Mordecai that she will fast from food and drink for three days and nights, but then Esther 5:1 says that on the third day she rose from her fast and went in to see the king about the salvation of her people, the Jews. I always thought that was a striking parallel.

 

[Verbum]

Hi Elzie,

Nothing to get worked up about. Yes, the ancients counted all the days of a duration as full days and expressed themselves accordingly. “Three nights and three days” is just a way of saying 3 days.

Verbum

PS In French, we still speak of a week as 8 days and two weeks as 15 days.

 

[paarsurrey]

Jesus didn’t have 3 full NIGHTS (or 3 full days for that matter) in the tomb until he rose, so how can this Scripture makes sense.

Hi
My Christian friends are often confused, first they would say that JesusYeshuaIssa showed sign of Jonah, then they would come up with excuses and pretexes and won’t let it happen as it happened to Jonah.
Leaving that aside, if JesusYeshuaIssa died a cursed death on Cross and remained dead for three days and three nights or most of its part or some of its parts that creates a hole in the eternity of ChristianGod, he simply does not remain an eternal God if he dies even for a moment.To die is a blemish for God, please remember.This is just my opinion, please ignore it, if you don’t like it. There is no compulsion in religion.
Thanks
I am an Ahmadi – a peaceful faith in Islam bridging gaps between faiths/denominations/religions/agnostics

 

[Charlie_Zeaiter]

Jesus tells us about the Sign of Jonah in Matthew 12:40.

I don’t like the “partial day is reckoned as a full day” theory. I think there is a better explanation.

It’s interesting to note that Jesus’ references to “three days” appears ten times!
(Mt 16:21; Mt 17:22-23; Mt 20:18-19; Mk 8:31; Mk 9:31; Mk 10:33-34; Lk 9:22; Lk 18:32-33; Lk 24:7; Lk 24:46.)
And every time, he mentions being handed over to the authorities, and then rising on the third day.

Jesus was handed over to the authorities on the Thursday night. And He rose on the Sunday.

So perhaps, the referenece to being in the “depts of the earth” is not about being dead and buried, but about the suffering He endured.

More info:
blessedcause.org/BlessedCause%20Exclusives/The%20Sign%20of%20Jonah.htm

 

[paarsurrey]

Hi
The important point is if JesusYeshuaIssa died one the Cross and remained dead for three days and three nights, or most of this period or some of this period. Second important thing is whether eternity is an important attribute of ChristianGod ; if that is so, and rightly it should be, then the first expression jeopardizes and frustrates the second one. This is only a ChristianDilemma not others, and must be resolved reasonably.
Thanks
I am an Ahmadi – a peaceful faith in Islam bridging gaps between faiths/denominations/religions/agnostics

 

[paarsurrey]

I don’t like the “partial day is reckoned as a full day” theory.

Hi
I agree with you.
Thanks
I am an Ahmadi – a peaceful faith in Islam bridging gaps between faiths/denominations/religions/agnostics
The West, as I understand, due to certain disinformation has seen only MullahIslam or MullahShariah; the true face of Muhammad’sIslam and PromisedMessiahImamMahdi’sIslam is yet hidden from their eyes, which is truly speaking only peaceful.

 

[paarsurrey]

Jesus says it in Matthew 12:40. It’s a Jewish idiom and doesn’t mean literally three 24 hour days and nights.

Hi
Please don’t mind, I have asked Jews about it, they say it is no idiom in them. There is no harm in accepting JesusYeshuaIssa what he said, otherwise he had no need to mention this time frame.
Thanks
I am an Ahmadi – a peaceful faith in Islam bridging gaps between faiths/denominations/religions/agnostics
The West, as I understand, due to certain disinformation has seen only MullahIslam or MullahShariah; the true face of Muhammad’sIslam and PromisedMessiahImamMahdi’sIslam is yet hidden from their eyes, which is truly speaking only peaceful.