Heart of the Earth
T oday is Good Friday. This is the day that many people celebrate as the day Jesus died. We know they’re wrong because of Matthew 12:40, “For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” They’re off by one day. The only way for Jesus to be in the grave three days and three nights and then to rise on Sunday is for him to have died on Thursday. But I can’t help but wonder, why did Jesus use the phrase “heart of the earth” instead of saying, “the grave?” What is the heart of the earth? Some people have taken this to mean that this is referring to the center of the earth and a great deal of the theory that Paradise and Hades were once together in the center of the earth hangs on this. I’m still not convinced one way or the other on that theory. I realize there are many verses that refer to the dead going down, but then we look at Elijah, who was taken up in a chariot of fire. For now, I’m...