Yes, I'm a Christian, but this is not my take on the Jonah story ...nor do I believe that story was an exaggeration as many stories go.

Then there's the fishers of men that Jesus encouraged the apostles to be.

No exaggeration there either.

If they were to stretch their imagination a bit on how many people filled the town square, it perhaps would motivate some who like larger numbers to motivate their participation ...or to help brag about the large support of something they support, but I doubt that came into play at all.  I don't see it then, as it is now, where some tell of how packed or filled the area for their event was in Washington D.C., around the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

No, it's not that either.