Online Journal Article: "The Sign Of Jonah: Jesus In The Heart Of The Earth" JETS 61.1 (2018): 105–19

https://www.etsjets.org/files/JETS-PDFs/61/61-1/JETS_61.1_105-119_Andrews.pdf

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https://www.etsjets.org/files/JETS-PDFs/61/61-1/JETS_61.1_105-119_Andrews.pdf

From the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society (JETS)
JETS 61.1 (2018): 105–19
THE SIGN OF JONAH:
JESUS IN THE HEART OF THE EARTH
By MICHAEL W. ANDREWS
Abstract: Jesus associated himself with the “sign of Jonah” on multiple occasions in response
to Jewish leaders demanding that he prove his authority. Possible explanations of the sign are
examined here with an emphasis on Jesus’s statement that he would be “three days and three
nights in the heart of the earth” (Matt 12:40). A close reading of Jonah 2 reveals that Jesus
was describing himself as one who must suffer, but that he was depending upon his Father to
rescue him from his descent into death. Unlike traditional explanations which assume that the
statement must be restricted to the specific period that Jesus was in the tomb, this approach
suggests that Jesus’s descent began in the Garden of Gethsemane before he died.
Key words: sign of Jonah, death, suffering, temple, heart of the earth, three days and three
nights