There the Eagles Will Gather

Today's Gospel depicts the fall of Jerusalem, and so it remains appropriate to read the historical account of that fall, taken primarily from the historian Josephus. Jesus' enigmatic saying at the end of the Gospel, "Where the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together," appears on the surface to be a reference to the impending doom coming to Jerusalem, whose apostate residents have become as a dead body. But there may be a deeper, hidden meaning in His words, in view of the fact that He speaks of "eagles," not "vultures." St. Mark's version has "where the body is," a further indication of what may be a hidden reference to the gathering of Christ's people (the eagles) to feast on the body of Him who was dead but now lives and reigns forever.

And as His careful hearers were all spared the destruction of ad 70 because they heeded His warning then, so also today, His careful hearers who gather in faith to receive His body will be spared the eternal destruction of the Day of days.

The sermon.