Saint Paul's roller coaster (Acts 13-14)
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The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. (Joel 2:31; Acts 2:20)
NASA maintains a web page devoted to "lunar eclipses of historical interest." The list includes a partial lunar eclipse that was visible in Jerusalem on the evening of Friday, April 3, 33 AD.
Friday, April 3, 33 AD is likely the date of the crucifixion of Jesus.
A partial lunar eclipse can cause the moon to take on a blood red appearance.
On Pentecost Sunday, when Peter spoke to the crowd, there were many Old Testament predictions of the Passion and Resurrection of Jesus he could have quoted. Led by the Holy Spirit, he selected this passage from the prophet Joel:
In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.
I will show wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below,
blood and fire and billows of smoke.
The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
And everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved. (Joel 2:28-32; Acts 2:17-21)
Peter may have chosen this passage in part because both the crucifixion of Jesus and the blood red moon would have been fresh in the memories of his audience in Jerusalem. Peter is saying in effect, "Look, you saw the blood red moon. That Friday was the day Joel was talking about. Jesus is the Lord Joel was talking about. The great and glorious day of the Lord was the Sunday when Jesus rose from the dead. The Spirit being poured out - that's happening to us right now. Today is the day to be baptized. Today is the day to call on the name of the Lord Jesus and be saved."
In their Passion narratives, Matthew, Mark, and Luke all reference that darkness covered the land from about noon to 3pm as Jesus hung on the cross (with Luke adding, "the sun's light failed" - see Luke 23:44-45, Mark 15:33, Matthew 27:45). This could not have been from a naturally occurring solar eclipse, as the Passover was celebrated during a full moon, when a solar eclipse is impossible. The most likely natural explanation for the darkness is a heavy dust storm caused by strong winds from the nearby deserts. A miraculous, supernatural darkening is another possibility. Peter surely would not have quoted Joel's prophecy of the sun turning to darkness and the moon to blood if the crowds had not experienced both phenomena on that great and dreadful when the Lord gave His life for our salvation.
Pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet every day for the salvation of souls.
Michael Haverkamp Jr. is a lifelong member of the Roman Catholic Church. He is grateful to his parents for raising him in the faith. He resides in Columbus, Ohio with his amazing wife and three sons. By day he is a (usually) mild-mannered grant writer. You can read more of his writing at his blog, buildonrock.org.
