Matthew 12:40, Jesus Did Not Die?

ANOTHER verse used by Muslims to “prove” that the Lord Jesus “did not die” is Matthew 12:40. Their point is Jonah did not die inside the fish/whale so the Lord Jesus also did not die.

Sadly, their arguments only show how Muslims deliberately DISTORT and TWIST verses to prove their baseless beliefs.

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A. MUSLIMS VS MATTHEW 12:40

Muslims say that in Matthew 12:39, the Lord Jesus gave Jonah as the sign. Then, they cite Matthew 12:40.

The verse reads (from Matthew 12:38):

“Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him, ‘Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.’

“But he answered them, ‘An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.

“‘For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so for three days and three nights the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth.’”

[The story refers to Jonah 1:17, 2:1-15]

Muslims will ask a Christian: “Did Jonah die inside the fish/whale?”

If a Christian says, “Jonah did not die inside the whale,” then the Muslim will jump to the conclusion that “See? Jonah did not die. Since, Jonah is the ‘sign,’ so, Jesus was also saying in Matthew 12:40 that He would not die.”

“Therefore,” Muslims will add, “Jesus did not die.”

They might also say, “That proves that the crucifixion is ‘fiction.’”

The question now is: Are Muslim right?

No. They are wrong, despite their quick twisting of the text.

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B. THE TRUTH ABOUT JONAH AS THE ‘SIGN’

A careful reading of Matthew 12:40 will reveal that Jonah is NOT the sign. The sign is the PERIOD OF TIME that he remained in the belly of the fish or whale.

Matthew 12:40 reads:

“‘For JUST AS Jonah WAS THREE DAYS and THREE NIGHTS in the belly of the sea monster, so FOR THREE DAYS and THREE NIGHTS the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth.’”

The sign was the “three days and three nights” or the time Jonah was in the fish/whale, and not his condition inside the creature.

So, it was not important whether Jonah was alive or dead. That was not the issue. That was not the sign.

Muslims are just playing a quick trick, a sleight of hand, like a magician or a con man fooling his audience. And they have been successful in deceiving many innocent or unsuspecting people.

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C. THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS

But beware, some Muslims do not stop after their trick is exposed. To elude the expose, they will shift the attention to whether the Lord Jesus “literally” used the sign of Jonah.

They back away from their claim that the Lord Jesus did not die, and now try to prove that the Bible is wrong or contradictory.

They might ask, “Did Jesus really stay in the tomb for three days and three nights, just as Jonah did in the fish?”

Again, this is trickery.

To the Hebrews or Jews, the phrase “three days and three nights” is NOT LITERAL. It is not three 24 hour days (12 hours day and 12 hours night) for a total of 72 hours. It is an idiom, which is more symbolical than literal.

And to them, it only signifies that an event (eg Jonah inside the fish or the time the Lord Jesus stayed in the grave) encompasses three days. Thus, even if the Lord Jesus stayed only a few hours of Friday, the whole day of Saturday and a few hours of Sunday in the grave, that already fulfills the idiom. He has remained in the grave for “three days and three nights.”

Muslims know that most Christians do not know the real meaning of “three days and three nights.” So, they capitalize on that lack of knowledge as they try to show that the Bible is either wrong or contradictory.

Now we know their trick.