Matthew 24:27 Commentary and Bible Study

When Christ returns there will be no mistaking it. It will not be a rumour you hear about, or a sign that needs to be investigated. It will not be some natural event but a supernatural event. His return will be like a flash of lightning, which will mark the end of the world and the judgment of the human race. It will be so sudden that there will be no opportunity for any last-minute repentance. It will be something that no one can ignore, and it will signal the end of this world. The atheist who has argued against God all his life, will instantly know that he is exposed, condemned, doomed. The coming of Christ will mean relief and deliverance for his people, but judgment and destruction for his enemies. At that time none who reject him will escape death, for his coming will result in the overthrow of all who oppose him. In the similar passage in Luke the Lord says, ‘Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left. ³⁶ Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.’ In response to this the disciples ask ‘Where, Lord?’ It is then that he gives this answer, ‘Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together’ (Luke 17:35-37). This is an illustration based on the remarkable ability of a vulture to detect a dead carcass. In no time after death they are circling in on the remains, though they were nowhere to be seen a short while ago. The vulture is being used here as a symbol of judgment. The question found in Luke’s Gospel – ‘Where, Lord?’; where will some be taken and others left? – cannot be answered in terms of location, because the separation of the righteous from the unrighteous will be too extensive to be described in terms of location. It must therefore be answered in terms of the purpose of separating them. What really matter is why it will happen, and the reason why is that those who are left are spiritually dead and have no place in Christ’s eternal kingdom.