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The easy solution to the 72 hour question is the context of the answer Christ gave:

Mat 12:40 For as Jonah 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.

How long did Jesus think Jonah was in the whales belly?

Jon 1:17 Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Now how long did Jesus or anyone else of that time BELIEVE that Jonah was in the belly of the whale? Two days and a night? Two nights and two days? Or did they have no clue because this too was an "idiom" that could have meant anywhere from one day to 6 days?

The answer is that Jesus Christ didn't make the ONLY sign that he was the messiah a riddle that people had to guess at. Scripture said Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights. That's exactly how long Jesus Christ and everyone he was addressing thought it was when he gave the sign of his messiahship. If they didn't know this, they would have said..."Huh? We don't know how long Jonah was in the whale. It could have been any part of three days and three nights. It could have been three full days and three nights. Some sign!"

The easy solution to the 72 hour question is the context of the answer Christ gave

Correcto Mundo! Now.....you would think that the easy solution to the time (read day) of resurrection would be figuring out when exactly he was placed in the heart of the Earth....wouldn't you? No....that makes too much sense...and it goes against the mainstream theology.

The easy solution to the 72 hour question is the context of the answer Christ gave: Mat 12:40 For as Jonah 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.

Well now, did Jesus say "three nights and three days" or "three days and three nights"?

If He was buried 6:00 Passover Wednesday evening and rose from the grave 6:00 Saturday Sabbath evening, then we have "three nights and three days", thus no literal fulfillment of His words.

However, if His burial took until dawn Thursday morning [Luke 23:54], and He was raised from the grave at dawn Sunday morning [Matthew 28:1-2] then His words "three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" are literally fulfilled in correct order. Isn't that right???

Matthew 28 1: In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. 2: And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.

Jesus did say: "three days and three nights", didn't he?