On the other hand, the integrity of the Written Word is important to affirm. Jesus said that He'd be following Jonah's pattern of three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, when He died and was buried. So it must have happened. Somehow.

If He was crucified, as is widely held, on Friday, and rose early on the first day of the week, aka Sunday, we have a total of two nights, one full day, and small parts of two other days. Doesn't seem to compute.

The day He died was called the "Preparation" for the coming Sabbath, so talking about a Thursday death so as to meet the day-night requirement, still does not compute, fully.

They tell me that people of the East think a little differently than we do. I've been married to a Korean for twenty years, and am willing to agree that this is quite so. Not just the female differences, mind you, but the Eastern ones kick in quite often.

The Eastern way of reckoning is to count a part of a day as a whole day. Parts of years are counted as whole years. There is a Korean story of a man who marries on December 31. On January 1, the next day, he complains to his wife that he has no children, though he has been married two full years!

By Eastern reckoning, Jesus was in the grave three days in their fullness, which includes the nights also.