.
● Matt 12:40 . . For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of
a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the
heart of the earth.
When you think about it, Jesus' crucified dead body never was in the heart
of the Earth, it was laid to rest up on the surface; and not even in the
ground like a normal grave-- his remains were buried in a hollowed out rock.
(Matt 27:60)
So, in order for Jesus to be up on the surface of the Earth, and down in it's
bowels at the same time; he and his body had to part company.
According to Ps 16:8-10 and Acts 2:25-31, when Jesus passed away, he
went to a place in the netherworld called sheol in Hebrew and haides in
Greek. Jonah went there too. (Jonah 2:2)
According to Jonah 2:6, sheol is located at the roots of the mountains; and if
that's the case, then that's where haides is located too. Well, I think we can
all agree that the roots of the mountains aren't situated in the tummies of
fish.
In other words: while Jonah's corpse was interred in the fish, he himself was
somewhere deep in the Earth-- a very similar thing happened to Jesus.
While his corpse was interred in the rock, he himself was somewhere deep in
the Earth too.
If Jesus Christ's resurrection is true-- if his dead body was actually restored
to life within three days and three nights just as the prophet's (Jonah 1:17)
- then Jesus most certainly is the one man in the New Testament that
everybody really ought to approach with a great deal of caution because
Jonah's message warned of the impending destruction of just one city; while
Jesus' message warns of the impending destruction of many cities. (Rev
16:17-19)
● Matt 12:41 . . People of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this
generation and will condemn it; because they repented at what Jonah
preached, but, look! something more than Jonah is here.
_