Matthew 24:29 "Immediately after the suffering of those days the sun will be darkened..."

"Immediately after the suffering of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken" (Matthew 24:29).

Question:

Verse 29 has always puzzled me "... The sun shall be darkened and the stars will fall from the sky and the moon shall not give its light and the stars will fall from the sky ..."

Comment:

Jesus is describing the coming of the kingdom of heaven. We understand “the kingdom of heaven” to describe the time when the collective consciousness of the world will shift dramatically from a fear-based sense of separation from God to a love-based awareness of our innate and eternal Oneness with the Light and Love we call God. Achieving that shift in consciousness is our entire purpose as spiritual beings engaged in this human experience.   As Matthew renders Jesus' teachings on the subject, it can sound like very bad news indeed. As he does throughout his Gospel, the author of Matthew mixes in references and quotations from Hebrew Scripture that would have been very familiar to the Jews who would be the first to read his story of the ministry of Jesus. This particular verse is taken directly from passages in Isaiah (13:10) and Ezekiel (32:7). Job, Daniel and Zechariah, among others, are also referenced in Chapter 24.   Jesus' underlying point is that while the coming of “kingdom of heaven” consciousness is a very positive thing, it will be preceded by a lot of negative energy. “The brighter the light, the darker the shadows.” As a positive consciousness based on love and oneness grows brighter in the world, it will be met with an energy of anger and fear, anxious to hold onto old attitudes and beliefs. "See that you are not alarmed" (24:6) Jesus urges his disciples. There is no chance that the shadow will prevail; but it's important to realize that the energy of fear can express in dramatic ways.   The Hebrew prophets whose words the author brings into Jesus teaching believed that God's anger could express in physical ways—as storms, winds, earthquakes, etc. They used the termination of the sun, moon and stars as an image of total divine displeasure and destruction. Jesus, on the other hand, teaches of a God of infinite love seeking to express and create through us. The upheavals in the world around us may be as dramatic as Isaiah and Ezekiel foresaw, but they will be a necessary stage toward a great, great Good. The changes, however dramatic they may appear, will not be happening to us. They will be expressing through us as our human consciousness becomes one with Christ consciousness, and the kingdom of heaven moves into expression through us.   Blessings!

Rev. Ed