John Calvin Commentary Matthew 24:29

"But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:" — Matthew 24:29 (ASV)

And immediately after the tribulation of those days. Christ now comes to speak of the full manifestation of His kingdom, about which He was at first questioned by the disciples, and promises that, after they have been tried by so many distressing events, redemption will arrive in due time. The principal object of His reply was to confirm His disciples in good hope, so that they might not be dismayed because of the troubles and confusion that would arise. For this reason, He does not speak of His coming in simple terms, but employs those modes of expression which were common among the prophets. The more attentively these were considered, the more severe would be the struggle with temptation experienced by the reader, because of the contradictory nature of the event.

For what could be more strange than to see the kingdom of Christ not only despised, but oppressed by the cross, loaded with many reproaches, and overwhelmed by every kind of tribulation—that kingdom which the prophets had frequently described in such magnificent language? Might it not be asked, where was that majesty which would darken the sun, and moon, and stars, shake the whole frame of the world, and change the ordinary course of nature? Our Lord now meets these temptations, declaring that, though these predictions are not immediately fulfilled, they will eventually be fully justified by the event. The meaning therefore is that the predictions which had been previously made about the miraculous shaking of heaven and earth ought not to be restricted to the commencement of redemption, because the prophets had embraced the whole course of it, until it should arrive at perfection.

Having now ascertained Christ’s intention, we will have no difficulty perceiving the meaning of the words to be that heaven will not be darkened immediately, but after the Church has passed through the whole course of its tribulations.

This is not to say that the glory and majesty of the kingdom of Christ will not appear until His last coming, but rather that until that time, the accomplishment of those things that began to take place after His resurrection is delayed. God gave His people nothing more than a taste of these things, so that He might lead them further on in the path of hope and patience. According to this argument, Christ keeps the minds of believers in a state of suspense until the last day, so that they may not imagine those declarations which the prophets made about the future restoration to have failed to be accomplished, because they lie buried for a long period under the thick darkness of tribulations.

The tribulation of those days is improperly interpreted by some commentators to mean the destruction of Jerusalem; for, on the contrary, it is a general recapitulation (ἀνακεφαλαίωσις) of all the evils of which Christ had previously spoken.

To encourage His followers to patience, He employs this argument: that the tribulations will eventually have a happy and joyful result. As if He had said, “So long as the Church continues its pilgrimage in the world, there will be dark and cloudy weather; but as soon as an end has been put to those distresses, a day will arrive when the majesty of the Church will be illustriously displayed.”

In what manner the sun will be darkened we cannot now conjecture, but the event will show. He does not indeed mean that the stars will actually fall, but according to human perception; and accordingly Luke only predicts that there will be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars. The meaning therefore is that there will be such a violent commotion of the firmament of heaven that the stars themselves will be supposed to fall.

Luke also adds that there will be a dreadful commotion of the sea, the sea and the waves roaring, so that men will faint through fear and alarm. In a word, all the creatures above and below will be, as it were, heralds to summon men to that tribunal, which they will continue to treat with ungodly and wanton contempt until the last day.