That Jesus did not keep subjects in 1, 2, 3 order due to stating a part of the message and then speaking another part before finishing the message of the preceding part, has caused confusion for verse 28 For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together. Due to that pattern not being used, verse 28 has several suggested meanings, but none of them fit the subject of the chapter.  The Living Word Commentary series has the following for verse 28: The "vulture" ([@aetos]; not an "eagle") gathers where the carcass is (cf. Job 39:30).  The image is obvious, but the significance is difficult. Some suggest that as sure as the birds of carrion know of the dead, so there would be no doubt of Jesus' coming.  Others suggest that Jesus had the "eagles" carried on the Roman standards in mind.  The Ezra apocalypse written near the end of the first century used the eagle as a figure for Rome (2 Esdras 12:10ff,31f). Jameson-Fausset-Brown’s Bible Commentary only references other scriptures as does McGarvey and Pendleton’s Commentary. Harpers’s Commentary mostly avoids the issue. Can it be known what Jesus meant? The answer is yes by using the pattern of his teaching.

If verse 28 is not included in the broad context, the effort to discover the meaning will be uncertain when the verse is isolated. The verse is an extension of verse 27, the Son of man’s arrival. The first step is to look at the word carcass ptoma--pronounced: pto'-mah (G4430) a lifeless body-dead body, carcass, corpse. Given that the correct meaning of aeto--pronounced: ah-et-os' is vulture, not eagle, the word cannot be eagles though they do eat carrion, vultures would gather to eat the dead human and animal bodies. By using the chapter context describing the destruction of the temple (and Jerusalem), the message of verse 28 is that the impending trouble would cause carcasses and that would attract vultures. Now look back at verse 21 and 22 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. Jesus chose the words (carcass and vulture) for his message that fit the horrible nature of the impending destruction. It is estimated that over one million people were killed along with animals, so the number of vultures, and the human and animal carcasses would have been numbered in the thousands to millions when Jerusalem was destroyed. Eagles are majestic but there wasn’t anything majestic in Jerusalem in that period of time. Carcasses and vultures showed the ugliness that came due to denying Jesus.

Jesus broke his message into three basic parts. He told the people to flee, verses 16-20. In verse 21 he warned of a great tribulation; and then his return in verse 30. However, the tribulation is not the return of Jesus of verse 30 since he does not use the (coming) of the son of Man in connection with tribulation in any verse. He picked up the tribulation message in verse 29 After the tribulation of those days shall the sun 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: (See Joel 2:10,31; 3:15-16) The verse has to be understood in the context of the symbolism of the Old Testament, the Mosaic Law and the temple. Before going to verse 30 which is a continuation of the teaching in 29, note the words that begin verse 29, immediately after the tribulation and those days. Those days are the period of time when the people suffered terribly which is called tribulation. The words after the tribulation show that the tribulation is not a period of time. Those days constitute the historical milieu in which the turmoil occurred.

    Part XI is a continuation of the discussion of verses 28 and 31.     

© 09-18-2012 DEC0