@ThePainefulTruth Said
I've finished the book,
The Jesus Discovery and it has answered my personal questions satisfactorily, particularly concerning the issue of resurrection, where it was apparently perceived by Jesus' early followers as being a spiritual rather than a corporeal event.
In fact, as scripture makes clear, Jesus initial resurrection, back on to the earth was corporeal, it is his ascensions later that is in spirit form.
@ThePainefulTruth Said
But another history vs. theology question arose: was the Sign of Jonah supposed to be a prescient, prophetic, supernatural sign, or something else? According to Matthew, the answer would be in the affirmative, i.e. the 3 days and 3 nights "in the heart of the earth".
But the wording is curious. Why doesn't Jesus just say there would be the Sign of Jonah; why preface it with the statement that there would be no sign, except...? Luke stops there saying nothing about the 3 days and nights--while Mark says there would be no sign, period. I think it was worded that way because, as in Luke, the sign was not the supernatural sign they were looking for, but something else, something generic.
I see no problem with the wording. Jesus said that because he meant that. The scripture at Matthew 12:38,39 "Then as an answer to him some of the scribes and Pharisees said: “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.” 39 In reply he said to them: “A wicked and adulterous generation keeps on seeking for a sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign of Jo?nah the prophet"
They were asking Jesus for a sign to prove who he was. They had already seen and heard of many such signs, so it appears they wanted a "sign on demand" from him. However he said they were not going to get one, then he qualified it by referring to the "sign of Jonah" in the near future.
@ThePainefulTruth Said
Even though Tabor and Jacobovici don't ask this question directly, they provide the answer. On p.79, there's a quote from the Mishnah (a collection of Jewish writings) explaining the meaning of (the sign of) Jonah is that God answers your prayers in times of trouble. For those seeking a divine sign from God this would be a major let down. It would not be a display of prophetic validation, but, to paraphrase Luke, it was all they were gonna to get.
That was one meaning of what happened to Jonah, yes, and the only one the Jews will accept. However that is only one aspect of it. It also happened to prefigure what would happen to Jesus later. In fact it was also to be exactly that, prophetic validation of who and what Jesus was. That was why Jesus referred to it.