For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together

 

 "Therefore when you see the 'abomination of desolation,' spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place" (whoever reads, let him understand), "then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.  Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house.  And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes.  But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days!  And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath.  For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.  And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened.  

 

"Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'There!' do not believe it.  For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.  See, I have told you beforehand.  Therefore if they say to you, 'Look, He is in the desert!' do not go out; or 'Look, He is in the inner rooms!' do not believe it.  For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.  For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together.

"Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.  Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.  And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."

 

- Matthew 24:15–31 

 

In our current readings, it is Holy Week, the final week of Christ's earthly life.  On Saturday, we read that Jesus went out and departed from the temple after disputing with the religious leaders, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple.  And Jesus said to them, "Do you not see all these things?  Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down."  Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be?  And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?"  And Jesus answered and said to them:  "Take heed that no one deceives you.  For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many.  And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars.  See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.  For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.  All these are the beginning of sorrows.  Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake.  And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.  Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.  And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.  But he who endures to the end will be saved.  And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come."

 

  "Therefore when you see the 'abomination of desolation,' spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place" (whoever reads, let him understand), "then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.  Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house.  And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes."  My study Bible reminds us that Daniels' prophecy of the abomination of desolation (Daniel 9:27, 11:31, 12:11) was fulfilled in AD 70.  This was when, during the Roman Siege of Jerusalem, the Roman general Titus entered the Most Holy Place.  He had a statue of himself erected in the temple, and the temple was destroyed in subsequent fighting.  Only one retaining wall remained standing of what was one of the great architectural wonders of the world.  The Lord's phrase when you see is an indication that many of the disciples would still be alive at that time.  My study Bible adds that the words whoever reads, let him understand are commonly understood as inserted by Matthew into Christ's address as an encouragement to the early Christian flock who may have witnessed this event.  

"But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days!"  In Luke's version of this prophecy, Jesus speaks of a blessing on the barren women (Luke 23:29), which my study Bible calls an acknowledgement of the overwhelming pain a mother endures seeing her children suffer (illustrated by the use of the word woe here).  It quotes St. John Chrysostom:  "Mothers are held by the tie of feeling for their children, but cannot save them.  How can one escape the bonds of nature?  How can she who nurses ever overlook the one she has borne?"

"And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath.  For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.  And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened."  My study Bible says that  the severity of winter weather or respect for the Sabbath would prevent many faithful from fleeing quickly in a time of real desperation, as is indicated by Christ's words here.  One spiritual interpretation given in patristic commentary views these words as applying to the entire period of the Church, in which the Sabbath symbolizes idleness with regard to virtue, and winter meaning fruitlessness regarding charity.  So, a person who departs earthly life in such a state will suffer judgment.

"Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'There!' do not believe it.  For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.  See, I have told you beforehand.  Therefore if they say to you, 'Look, He is in the desert!' do not go out; or 'Look, He is in the inner rooms!' do not believe it.  For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be."  Once again, as in Saturday's reading (above), Jesus warns of false christs and false prophets.   Here, in order to prepare believers, He teaches about the manner in which He will return.  My study Bible comments that this event will be unmistakable to the whole world.  It says that if there is any question or doubt, that by itself is evidence that Christ has not returned.  As His return will shine from the east, my study Bible tells us, so Orthodox Christians whenever possible worship facing eastward in symbolic hope and anticipation of His second and glorious coming.  

"For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together."  In Luke's Gospel, this prophecy reads, "Wherever the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together" (Luke 17:37).  The words translated as carcass and body are two different Greek words.  My study Bible comments that the body  refers to Christ, while the eagles refer to the angels and the saints.   St. Jerome comments on the use of the word for carcass, which has its roots in a word meaning "fallen."  He writes, "We can understand this body to refer to the Passion of Christ because wherever Scripture says that we are gathered together, it is for the purpose of coming to the Word of God."   A repeated theme stresses that this phrase is meant to compare the capacity for gathering to that of eagles who gather from long distances.

"Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken."  My study again cites patristic commentary, which teaches that the sun will not be destroyed, but rather darkened in relation to the glory of Christ.  What this means is that the sun will seem to be dark by comparison when Christ returns in the fullness of His splendor.

"Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.  And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."  My study Bible explains that the sign of the Son of Man is the Cross.  This is in keeping with the idea of the "body" or the "carcass" referring to the Passion of Christ.  But moreover, my study Bible comments that the Cross will be revealed as the standard for Christ's impending judgment.  At His first coming, it explains, Jesus came in humility and mortality.  But at His second coming, He will be revealed in power and great glory.  This is the power and great glory Christ shares with God the Father which will be revealed to us.  

 

"And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."   My study Bible cites  1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 as one of the clearest New Testament passages on the Second Coming of Christ.  The first-century teaching document, The Didache (called the teaching of the apostles), lists three signs marking the return of Christ.  1)  "The sign spread out in the heavens" -- Christ and His angels; 2) "the sign of the trumpet"; and 3) "the resurrection of the dead" (His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other).  For the righteous, my study Bible says, the return of Christ is a comfort, not a threat.

 

 Perhaps it seems a bit strange to reflect upon Christ's words on the end times, and the culmination of the age at His Second Coming, at this time in Advent when we are approaching the celebration of His Nativity.  But Christ's birth and a rebirth associated with the Resurrection and His Return are not really so strange.  It is of the same nature as the Passion, the event of Christ's suffering and death, which is irretrievably correlated with His Resurrection on the third day.  In Christianity, we cannot therefore separate death from rebirth, for Christ is always there with us.  Birth and death, in other words, are always mingled; there will always be a birth in Christ as a response to any form of death.  The key to this, of course, is faith, and a faithfully lived life.  In that context, it may help illumine our minds to follow up on some of the patristic understanding of Christ's mysterious words about the eagles gathering where the body is.  St. Apollinaris writes that there are those who explain this concept of a "fallen" body as meaning that all the elect (the eagles) will leave paradise behind, and in a rebirth of the world, gather to the place where the fall of Adam occurred -- where he violated the commandment and through his disobedience fell into sin.  Then the "fall" of the world will be undone in rebirth at the great Resurrection, the union of heaven and earth.  Revelation 21 speaks of a new heaven and a new earth, after the first heaven and first earth pass away (Revelation 21:1-2).  So then, as we look toward the light, toward the East, from where Christ comes as does the light of dawn, we can look toward Resurrection and renewal, even of the whole of Creation, made possible through the Passion of our Lord.  Let us look to Nativity and ponder with gratitude befitting God's grace.