Matthew 24:28

And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. For the exposition of this wonderful Prophecy, which will be best apprehended by taking all the records of it together, see the notes at Mark 13:1....

28_Wheresoever the carcass is. _The meaning is, that by whatever methods Satan endeavors to scatter the children of God in various directions, still in Christ himself is the sacred bond of union, by which they must be kept united. For whence comes the dispersion, but that many depart from Christ, in whom alone our strength lies? Here then is a method laid down for promoting a holy union, that the separations produced by errors may not tear in pieces the body of the Church; and that method is, when we remain united to Christ. This ought to be carefully observed; for Christ does not restrict us either to the primacy of the Roman See, or to any other foolery, but employs this method alone for binding his Church together, that all in every quarter should look to him as the only head. Hence it follows, that those who are united to him by pure faith are beyond the risk of schism. Let the adher...

4-28 The disciples had asked concerning the times, When these things should be? Christ gave them no answer to that; but they had also asked, What shall be the sign? This question he answers fully. The prophecy first respects events near at hand, the destruction of Jerusalem, the end of the Jewish church and state, the calling of the Gentiles, and the setting up of Christ's kingdom in the world; but it also looks to the general judgment; and toward the close, points more particularly to the latter. What Christ here said to his disciples, tended more to promote caution than to satisfy their curiosity; more to prepare them for the events that should happen, than to give a distinct idea of the events. This is that good understanding of the times which all should covet, thence to infer what Israel ought to do. Our Saviour cautions his disciples to stand on their guard against false teachers....

Verse Matthew 24:28. _FOR WHERESOEVER THE CARCASS IS_] πτωμα, _the dead_ _carcass_. The Jewish nation, which was morally and judicially dead. _THERE WILL THE EAGLES_] The Roman armies, called so partly from their strength and fierceness, and partly from the _figure_ of these animals which was always wrought on their _ensigns_, or even in brass, placed on the tops of their ensign-staves. It is remarkable that the Roman fury pursued these wretched men _wheresoever_ they were found. They were a _dead carcass_ doomed to be _devoured_; and the Roman eagles were the commissioned devourers. See the pitiful account in Josephus, WAR, b. vii. c. 2, 3, 6, 9, 10, and 11....

WHERESOEVER ... - The words in this verse are proverbial. Vultures and eagles easily ascertain where dead bodies are, and hasten to devour them. So with the Roman army. Jerusalem is like a dead and putrid corpse. Its life is gone, and it is ready to be devoured. The Roman armies will find it out, as the vultures do a dead carcass, and will come around it to devour it. This proverb also teaches a universal truth. Wherever wicked people are, there will be assembled the instruments of their chastisement. The providence of God will direct them there, as the vultures are directed to a dead carcass. This verse is connected with the preceding by the word “for,” implying that this is a reason for what is said there that the Son of man would certainly come to destroy the city, and that he would come suddenly. The meaning is that he would come, by means of the Roman armies, as “certainly;” as “sud...

EXPOSITION MATTHEW 24:1 PROPHECY OF THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM, AND OF THE TIMES OF THE END. (Mark 13:1; Luke 21:5.) There is no reason to think, with Olshauson, that St. Matthew or his editor has considerably amplified the original discourse of our Lord by introducing details and expressions from other quarters. The discourse, as we now have it (Matthew 24:1. and 25.), forms a

FOR WHERESOEVER THE CARCASS IS,.... Not Christ, as he is held forth in the Gospel, crucified and slain, through whose death is the savour of life, and by whom salvation is, and to whom sensible sinners flock, encouraged by the ministry of the word; and much less Christ considered as risen, exalted, and coming in great glory to judgment, to whom the word "carcass" will by no means agree, and but very poorly under the former consideration: but the people of the Jews are designed by it, in their fallen, deplorable, miserable, and lifeless state, who were like to the body of a man, or any other creature, struck dead with lightning from heaven; being destroyed by the breath of the mouth, and brightness of the coming of the son of man, like lightning, just as antichrist will be at the last day: THERE WILL THE EAGLES BE GATHERED TOGETHER: not particular believers here, or all the saints at the...

Matthew 24:1. _And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciple came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down._ The King, having finished his first discourse in the temple, left it, never to return: «Jesus went out, and departed from the temple.» His ministry there was ended. As his disciples moved away with him cowards the mount of Olives, they called his attention to the great stones of which the temple was constructed, and the costly adornments of the beautiful building. To them the appearance was glorious; but to their Lord it was a sad sight. His Father's house, which ought to have been a house of prayer for all nations, had become a den of thieves, and soon would be utterly destroyed: Je

12. THE OLIVET DISCOURSE; THE KING REVEALS THE FUTURE OF THE KINGDOM. Chapter s 24-25. CHAPTER 24 1. The Destruction of the Temple Foretold. (Matthew 24:1 .) 2. The Questions of the Disciples. (Matthew 24:3 .) 3. The End of the Age; Events Preceding His Coming.(Matthew 24:4 .) 4. The Great Tribulation and what will Happen. (Matthew 24:15 .) 5. The Visible and Glorious Return of the King.(Matthew 24:27 .) 6. The Exhortations of the King. ...

MATTHEW 24 F. THE ESCHATOLOGICAL DISCOURSE, AND THE PARABLES OF PAROUSIA (Mark 13*, Luke 21:5 *, Luke 17:23). Mt. follows Mk. fairly closely, but appends other eschatological sayings and illustrative parables (ch. 25). The discourse arises out of a prediction of the destruction of the Temple, and is spoken in Mt. not to four disciples but to the Twelve, who ask for the sign of Thy coming (_i.e._ as Messiah, _parousia),_ and of the end of the world (or age). Jesus enumerates the events that must first occur (Matthew 24:4). With Matthew 24:4 _cf._ Mark