CHAPTER 17
Luke 17.1 Jesus also said to his disciples: «It is impossible that scandals should not come, but woe to him through whom they come. – Again (see 16:1) Jesus addresses his disciples after the interruption caused by the Pharisees' crude behavior (16:14-35). According to Theophylact, Bisping, etc., it is precisely this scandalous attitude of his adversaries that prompted the present warning, directed against scandal. It is impossible…The corresponding Greek phrase, which is not found anywhere else in the New Testament, properly means «unacceptable.» As in the analogous passage in the first Gospel (cf. Matthew 18:7 and the commentary), it certainly refers only to a moral impossibility: the absence of scandals and an inadmissible supposition in the state of sin in which the world is plunged.
Luke 17.2 It would be better for him to have a millstone put around his neck and be thrown into the sea, than to scandalize one of these little ones. – Jesus demonstrates, through a significant detail, the enormity of scandalous sins: rather than fall into them, it would be better to be plunged into the depths of the sea without any hope of salvation. Indeed, «whoever is the author of scandal, according to all the principles of religion, becomes a murderer of the souls he scandalizes. Monstrous sin, diabolical sin… sin essentially opposed to the redemption of Jesus Christ, sin for which we will have to give a singular account… sin all the more dangerous because it is so common in the world.» Bourdaloue, On Scandal. A millstone. This type of molar, set in motion by a donkey, was noticeably larger than the other, which a woman could turn without too much difficulty. One of those little ones : these low-minded people, that is to say the disciples, to whom Jesus readily gave this humble name.
Luke 17.3 Be careful of yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. – cf. Matthew 18:15, 21, 22 and the commentary. The words be careful These connections can be linked either to the preceding advice, like a solemn reminder (take care not to scandalize your brothers!), or to the present teaching (pay close attention to this other thing I am about to tell you, and put it into practice). The first of these two connections is generally preferred. Take it backThe word is forceful; but it is necessary that the Christian charity It is important to interpret it with moderation; for since the reproach in question can have no other purpose than the correction of a misguided brother, the desired goal would be entirely missed if this brother were embittered instead of calmed. If he repents… the offended party has legitimate rights which Jesus does not deny him the exercise of; but he also has a great and noble duty which the divine Master reminds him of, the duty of forgiveness, of plenary amnesty, as soon as the guilty party shows repentance.
Luke 17.4 And even if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times returns to you saying, »I repent,” you must forgive him.” This hypothesis is certainly unlikely in ordinary life relationships, because, apart from children, who, truly contrite for a sin, would nevertheless fall back into it seven times in a day? But here, as in many other passages, Jesus resorts to paradox to better instill his precept. Seven (The concrete for the abstract, in the Eastern manner) is, moreover, an indeterminate number to signify: always. He's coming back to tell youA picturesque detail, if we take this expression literally. But it can also figuratively signify an inner return to better feelings. – In St. Matthew, 11, responding to St. Peter, Jesus asks not only up to seven times forgiveness insults, but up to seventy times seven times.
Luke 17.5 The apostles said to the Lord, «Increase our faith.» – It is with evident emphasis that St. Luke applies the title of Lord to Jesus (cf. 7:31; 22:61, etc.). To the one they considered the sovereign Master, the Christ, Son of God, the twelve apostles address a sublime prayer in unison. Nowhere else in the Gospel narratives do we see them implore Jesus with one voice for some favor. Presumably, they had heard, among the disciples, the preceding instruction, the full difficulty of which they understood. It is not without doing violence to flesh and blood that one can always forgive. Hence this beautiful supplication: Lord, make easy for us, through an increase of faith, what is impossible for nature. This seems to be the true line of thought (Olshausen, Meyer, Bisping, etc.). Literally: give us more faith. We have some, but not enough, and we would like more.
Luke 17.6 The Lord replied, «If you had faith like a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and transplanted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. – Jesus responds to this request, worthy of the group of 12 apostles, by describing in vivid detail the admirable effects of faith. Like a mustard seed. A proverbial way of indicating the smallest quantity, since, speaking elsewhere (Matthew 13:32) of mustard, the Savior says that it is the smallest of all seeds. You would say to this mulberry tree. According to some exegetes, the Greek word refers more to a sycamore than a mulberry tree; but the current translation is justified 1° by the use of another word a little further down (19, 4) when St. Luke wants to talk about the sycamore; 2° by the modern Greek idiom, which designates the black mulberry tree. This is a graphic pronoun, from which it follows that Jesus then had before his eyes a mulberry tree which he was showing with his hand to the Twelve; it is unfortunately omitted by the Sinait, D, L, X manuscripts. Uproot yourself… A most peculiar command indeed. For a tree of considerable size, like the mulberry tree in Palestine, to laboriously uproot itself from the ground without the aid of human arms and plant itself elsewhere would be a most wondrous phenomenon. However, after uprooting itself, to take root again, not in the sands of the shore, but in the very waters of the sea, upon the constantly churning waves, is the ultimate miracle in the realm of natural phenomena, because it is an absolute impossibility. What an expressive way to demonstrate the boundless power of faith! In the analogous passage in St. Matthew (18:19; see the commentary), the command is addressed to a mountain.
Luke 17 7 Which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him, when he comes in from the field, “Come quickly and sit down to eat”? 8 Won't he say to him, on the contrary: Prepare my supper, gird yourself and serve me, until I have eaten and drunk, and after that you shall eat and drink? – Transition: Jesus has just solemnly affirmed to the Twelve that they are capable of accomplishing the greatest wonders through a living faith. He now wants to guard them against the temptations of vainglory that could arise from the exercise of such dazzling authority: this is why he brings them back to feelings ofhumility reminding them that they are nothing before God. – The fact on which Our Lord bases his important lesson is one of everyday experience; it is all the more interesting for it, especially since the description is entirely dramatic. A servant The corresponding Greek word refers to a servant in the strict sense, one who is entirely dependent on his master and who has not merely committed to performing a specific service. Belt yourself. cf. 12, 35. Orientals, when they work, usually roll up their ample outer garments to allow for freer movement. Until I have eaten and drunk The servant should not think about satisfying his own needs until those of his master have been fully satisfied.
Luke 17.9 Does he show gratitude to this servant because he did what he was ordered to do? – Last point, to which Jesus will link his moral lesson. When this servant has faithfully carried out the orders he received, will he be thanked for his zeal? Generally, no one will give it a second thought. He is paid for it, as the saying goes, and often he won't even receive a simple thank you in addition to his wages. After all, he has only done his duty.
Luke 17.10 I don't think so. Likewise, when you have done what you were commanded, say: We are useless servants., we did what we had to do. » “The same is true,” the Savior concludes, “of your conduct toward God. Were you irreproachable servants, were you to have perfectly fulfilled, without exception (everything is emphatic), all the commands of the sovereign Lord, recognize that you have only paid your debt. Indeed, ‘Doing what you ought is not a favor but a duty,’ Seneca, Controv. 2, 13. If the divine Master elsewhere promises faithful servants a magnificent reward (cf. 12, 37), it is out of pure generosity, for, without his special graces, would there be faithful servants? ‘By crowning merits, you crown your gifts.’ It is by this admirable principle ofhumility that Jesus concludes the series of discourses begun in chapter 15. – On the old controversy raised by the early Protestants concerning this text and the supposed uselessness of good works, see Maldonat, hl – The words I don't think so. are authentic, although they are missing from manuscripts B, L, X, Sinait.
Luke 17.11 On his way to Jerusalem, Jesus was close to the border of Samaria and Galilee. – The miracle is introduced in this verse by a note that is not without importance from the point of view of Our Lord's travels. The first words, on the way to Jerusalem, bring us back to 9, 51, 13, 22, and pick up the interrupted thread of the narrative. The following, Jesus was near the border of Samaria and Galilee, These passages once caused disagreements among commentators, who sometimes translated them as: He was traveling through Samaria and Galilee, and sometimes as: He was passing between Samaria and Galilee. The second interpretation is now almost universally accepted, and rightly so, given the topography. Indeed, since Jesus was then traveling from Galilee to Jerusalem, and Samaria is situated precisely between these two locations, if the evangelist had simply meant that Our Lord was traveling through the middle of Samaritan territory, he would have had to, to be precise, mention Samaria only secondarily: "He was traveling through the middle of Galilee and Samaria." If we accept the meaning "between," everything is easily explained. Having reached the borders of Galilee and Samaria, Jesus, instead of continuing south to reach Jerusalem by the direct route, suddenly turned east, towards the Jordan and the Perea, most likely skirting the Wadi of Bethsean. In this way, he traveled precisely "between" the two provinces, remaining on their border, with Samaria on his right and Galilee on his left. His aim was undoubtedly to avoid the inhospitable territory of the Samaritans. (cf. 9:52 ff.).
Luke 17.12 As he entered a village, ten lepers came to meet him and, keeping their distance, – The village near which the following scene took place was likely on the West Bank. Ten lepers…Separated from the rest of humanity by their terrible infirmity, they had found some consolation in pooling their sufferings and meager resources; see 2 Kings 7:3, an ancient example of a similar association. Keeping a distance. The law forbade lepers from entering inhabited places or approaching healthy people, for fear they would spread their disease. (See Leviticus 13:45 ff.) Regarding this latter point, rabbinic regulations even attempted to specify the distance lepers should keep, but these varied from 4 to 1200 cubits (2 to 800 meters). Everything a leper touched was considered contaminated.
Luke 17.13 They raised their voices, saying, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us."« – They raised their voices : picturesque detail. Recognizing Jesus, and full of confidence in his all-powerful goodness, they all together utter this lamentable cry: Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. cf. 5, 5; 8, 24, 45; 9, 33, 49.
Luke 17.14 As soon as he saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were healed. Nothing is more likely to arouse pity than the sight of a leper; thus, the Savior's compassionate heart always readily granted requests of this kind. But we know that Jesus usually loved to test the faith of supplicants, and it is for this reason that he limited himself to responding in this instance: Go ahead, show yourselves to the priests.. This was at least an implicit promise of a swift cure, since it was the priests' responsibility, according to the provisions of the law (cf. Leviticus 13:2; 14:2; Matthew 7:3 and the commentary), to officially declare the leprosy gone. Full of faith, they set out, and suddenly their obedience was rewarded: They were healed. (On this expression, which was a technical term among the Jews to designate the cure of leprosy, see the Gospel according to St. Matthew).
Luke 17 15 One of them, when he saw he was healed, retraced his steps, glorifying God aloud, 16 And falling face down at Jesus' feet, he gave him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. – Until then, the conduct of the ten had been identical; we now find them divided, nine on one side, only one on the other. Alas. This latter side is that of recognition. One of them… came back. This expression shows that the healing did not take place in Jesus' immediate presence; perhaps it was performed some distance away from him. But the distance did not hinder the Samaritan leper's gratitude. Compare the example of Naaman, who also came to give thanks to Elisha after being miraculously healed of leprosy (2 Kings 5:15). Glorifying God at the top of their lungs. He raises his voice to give thanks, as he had previously done to implore, v. 13. He threw himself face down on the ground…From God, the author of every perfect gift, his thanksgiving is directed to Jesus, his immediate benefactor. Now, adds St. Luke, with an intention that is easy to discern: this one was a Samaritan, that is to say, he belonged to a race abhorred by the Jews, foreign to the divine promises, while the other nine were from the chosen nation. Was this not a tacit affirmation, according to the general tenor of the third Gospel (see the Preface, §5), that the Israelites would not be alone in participating in messianic salvation, but that the gates of the kingdom of heaven would also be open to other peoples, and that the latter could even wrest from Israel its privileges, if they proved themselves more perfect than Israel? Such, from a theological point of view, is the significance of the touching details of this miracle. As for the very fact of a Samaritan living alongside Jews despite national hatreds (see John 10:53 and the commentary), it is not extraordinary in this case: misfortune had swept away all barriers. Thus, in Jerusalem, in the Biut el Masakîn («residence of the unfortunate») or leper quarter, in the 19th century, one could see Muslims and Jews living together, while elsewhere they often fled from one another. Moreover, the miracle had occurred on the borders of Samaria, which makes such fraternity even more understandable.
Luke 1717 Then Jesus spoke up and said, «Were not the ten healed? And the nine, where are they?” 18 Was this foreigner the only one among them found to return and give glory to God? – Although accustomed to the ingratitude of men, Jesus expressed a kind of astonishment when he saw that only one of the lepers, only one out of ten, showed gratitude. Where are the other nine? The blessing they had received was scarcely less than the gift of life itself: how could they have no gratitude to express? "Such is the way of the world," exclaims St. Bernard: "They are importunate when they ask, restless until they receive, and ungrateful after receiving." It seems as though divine favors fall into a deep and silent tomb. It was with profound sadness that the Savior had to add: He was not found…; at least it pleased him to highlight the leper's good conduct stranger (see 2 Kings 17:24, the justification for the use of this word in relation to the Samaritans).
Luke 17. 19 And he said to him, »Rise and go; your faith has saved you.” – Get up (the leper was prostrate at Jesus' feet, v. 16) … Your faith saved you. By this word of kindness Jesus confirmed his earlier grace, perhaps joining at this moment the healing of the soul to that of the body, as some exegetes have thought.
Luke 17.20 The Pharisees asked him when the kingdom of God would come, and he answered them, «The kingdom of God does not come in a way that can be observed. 21 We will not say, »It is here,” or “It is there,” for behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.» – When would the kingdom of God come?.The expression kingdom of God This passage, like those found throughout the Gospel (see our commentary on Matthew 3:2), represents the empire of the Messiah foretold by the prophets. However, we know that the Pharisees, and indeed all Jews of that time, attached a thousand human prejudices to this grand idea, hoping that the Messiah would bring them glory, political power, riches, and all sorts of earthly advantages. Moreover, the question was not without malice or irony. Those who posed it wanted to embarrass their adversary. For several years he had been announcing the nearness of the Kingdom of God (cf. Matthew 4:17 and parallels), and yet things seemed to remain unchanged. Would he not offer some explanation for this? (cf. Maldonatus, Commentary on Luke 17:20). – Jesus does not initially answer the Pharisees' insidious question directly. Instead of specifying the era in question, he indicates, in a very clear, albeit negative, way, the nature of the "kingdom of God." It does not come in an obvious way. (The Greek verb denotes very careful observation, such as that of an enemy. cf. 14:1), that is, in such a way that it is possible to observe it, therefore accompanied by dramatic events, by striking and multiple signs that soon catch even the least perceptive eyes, such as the establishment of a new dynasty among a powerful people. See D. Calmet, Comm. hl. Was this not telling the Pharisees that they were adopting a false perspective when they sought, with the eyes of the body, a purely spiritual reign? We won't say: he is here…This is the development of the same thought. The kingdom of God is of such a nature that its presence cannot be ascertained as that of a material fact. Because look. To the "here is" and "there is" of men, Jesus opposes his own see, with which he introduces the main part of his response to the Pharisees: The Kingdom of God is within you. But what is the true meaning of this profound statement? We find three main explanations in the commentators, which vary according to the translation from the Greek. 1. According to Origen, St. Cyril, and Maldonatus: «in your power»; but nothing justifies their interpretation, which, moreover, weakens the Savior’s thought; 2. According to most commentators: «among you, beside you.» The entire phrase would then be equivalent to this: «The kingdom of God has come into your midst.» And, in reality, had not the era of the kingdom of heaven already begun? Was not the Messiah, head of this kingdom, living among the Pharisees? 3. According to a considerable number of other exegetes (among others, St. John Chrysostom, Theophylact, Erasmus, Olshausen, Godet, and Keil): «in your hearts, within yourselves»; and this seems to us to be the most accurate explanation, although the second is not without considerable probability. The context is favorable to us, since Jesus said earlier that the advent of the divine kingdom is not perceptible to the senses, and he intends here precisely to indicate the reason for this invisibility. Your inquiry is futile, he meant, since the establishment of the kingdom of God is a moral, internal matter. One might object, it is true, to the Pharisaical perversity: was the kingdom of God then in the depths of the hearts of these hypocrites? But it is not necessary to apply the pronoun YOU to the Pharisees exclusively. Some authors (Farrar, etc.) combine the latter two interpretations. Philology supports both. In any case, Jesus' words amount to saying that instead of being curiously concerned about the times and the signs of the kingdom of God, it would be far better to seek the means to appropriate it; and this is an instruction valid for all times.
Luke 17.22 He also said to his disciples, «The time will come when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. – After this brief but firm answer, Jesus owed nothing more to his insidious enemies. He had shown them the true ideal of his kingdom; he had tried to turn their gaze, which they had been directing too much toward the future, toward the present: that was enough. Now it was up to them to look within themselves. It is to his disciples that he addresses the rest of his discourse. Developing the same subject, but moving from the first coming to the second, from the foundation of the messianic kingdom to its consummation, he emphasizes the dangers that will fill the final age of the world in order to help us avoid them. His teachings are grouped around three thoughts, which correspond to verses 22-25, 26-30, 31-37. First thought: What the end times will be like, and what Christ must first endure. A time will come…days of sorrow and tribulation for the disciples of Jesus. Thus, during these terrible hours, they will ardently desire to see a day of the Son of Man, but without this desire being fulfilled. By this «day of the Son of Man,» for which the faithful will yearn as for a sweet refreshment amidst their suffering, some (Kuinoel, Stier, Ewald, von Burger, etc.) mean the past, that is, the time when Our Lord lived, the happy moments during which the first disciples enjoyed his visible presence; others (Olshausen, Bleek, Meyer, etc.) mean the future, the time of Jesus’ glorious return at the end of the world. The use of the same phrase in this second sense in verses 24, 26, and 30 leads us to favor it. The letters of St. Paul, especially those he wrote to the Thessalonians, attest to the keen desire that the first Christians had to see the last days arrive, in order to enjoy Christ as soon as possible.
Luke 17.23 You will be told: He is here and: He is there, beware of going there and running after him. – When we suffer, we must guard against false hopes, for we are more easily susceptible to them. It is for this reason that Jesus warns his friends against false messiahs, who have already deceived so many (see Matthew). We will tell you… This does not contradict verse 21, since it concerns another coming of the kingdom of God: just as the beginnings were slow, mysterious, and imperceptible, so too must the end be manifest and glorious. Don't go there… Repetition of the order, to reinforce it; in the Greek text, the second verb is moreover more expressive than the first.
Luke 17.24 For as the flash of lightning shines from one end of the sky to the other, so will it be with the Son of Man in his day. – Proof that it will be quite useless to chase after false Christs: the appearance of Jesus for the Last Judgment will not be local, but universal and simultaneous. The image of lightning admirably illustrates this idea. To see lightning, do you go to a particular place? No, its light shines from one end of the horizon to the other; it is visible everywhere at once. The same will be true of the second coming of Christ, so that there will be no need to be warned of his appearance. The words on his day are authentic, although they are missing in manuscripts B, D.
Luke 17.25 But first he must suffer greatly and be rejected by this generation. – A day of humiliation and suffering will precede this day of glory for Jesus himself. It's necessary This is a necessity according to the divine plan. And these sufferings, these humiliations will be inflicted upon him by the contemporary generation (this generation). New and clear announcement of his Passion. cf. 9, 22.
Luke 17 26 And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 The men ate and drank, they married and gave in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark and the flood came and destroyed them all. – Second thought, vv. 26-30: when Christ comes to gloriously and definitively establish his kingdom, he will find the world heedless and unprepared. Our Lord, to illustrate this painful fact, links the end times to two of the darkest periods in sacred history, the «days of Noah,» vv. 26 and 27, and the «days of Lot,» vv. 28-29, showing that, on the one hand, the indifference of humankind, and on the other, the terrifying nature of divine judgments, will be the same in these three critical eras, v. 30. In the days of Noah, That is to say, during the one hundred and twenty years it took to build the ark. They ate, they drank… – They were getting married because it was the man who was seeking a wife; They gave their daughters in marriage This applies to women who, in all biblical lands, are given in marriage by their parents and play no direct role in choosing their husbands. These picturesque details prove that humanity at that time, preoccupied only with its carnal interests, was completely unimpressed by the warnings from heaven and continued its voluptuous life to the very end. It took the Flood to put an end to it. See the commentary on Matthew 24:37-39 and a similar discussion. The Flood. The correlative Greek expression (from which our word originates) cataclysm) is, in the Septuagint (Genesis 6:17; 7:6 ff.; 9:11, 28) and in the New Testament (Matthew 24:11; 2 Peter 2:5) the technical term to designate the flood.
Luke 17 28 And as it happened in the days of Lot: people ate and drank, they bought and sold, they planted and built, 29 But on the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all: – The days of Lot are therefore a new type, a new prefiguration (particularly in the third Gospel) of the carelessness with which people at the end of times will prepare themselves for God's judgment. The men were eating…The nomenclature begins in the same way, but is then slightly modified: the ideas of commerce, plantation, and construction replace that of marriage; but the core remains the same: the concern for material well-being always takes precedence over everything else, for alas, in this respect, humankind constantly resembles itself. Whoever knows one phase of its history knows all the others, and particularly the worst ones, those that pave the way for punishment. But the day… a rain of fire fell from the sky. See the details in Genesis19, 23, 28. – This is judgment by fire, just as the flood was judgment by water. Sulfur : cf. Revelation 14, 10; 19, 20.
Luke 17.30 So it will be on the day the Son of Man appears. – So it will be. Probably, the comparison relates to the combined eras of Lot and Noah; therefore, what we read in this verse is a recapitulation. On the day the Son of Man appears. In Greek, the verb (from which our word derives) apocalypse) is well suited to designate the glorious manifestation of Our Lord Jesus Christ at the end of the world. cf. 1 Corinthians 1:7; 2 Thessalonians 1:7; Colossians 3, 3 and following; 1 Peter 4:13. The veil that covers its splendors will then be removed forever.
Luke 17.31 On that day, let no one who is on the roof and whose belongings are in the house go down to get them, and let no one who is in the field go back. – Here begins the third thought, vv. 31-37: the disposition of the soul which alone can then procure salvation. Again we find in this passage, although with variations in substance or form that attest to the originality of St. Luke, several of the fundamental words of the eschatological discourse. cf. Matt. 24:17, 18, 28. Thus, the third Gospel applies to the last days of the world what, according to the first, applies only to the destruction of Jerusalem. On this day, that is, when Christ makes his second coming. At that solemn hour, whoever wishes to remain eternally united to him must leave everything to fly without delay after him, as expressed by two concrete details in verse 31, a terrible example in verse 32, and a great principle in verse 33. See, for the explanation of verse 31, St. Matthew. Business They generally represent all sorts of objects, in this case, the most precious household utensils. Don't go back. Jesus thus recommends the most complete detachment from worldly affairs in view of his supreme appearance. How many, at the time of a flood or a fire, perish buried under the ruins of their house because they tried to enter it to save something.
Luke 17.32 Remember Lot's wife. This allusion was entirely natural, since Jesus had just reminded his listeners of the destruction of the Pentapolis (the five cities). «But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt» (Genesis 19:26; cf. Wisdom 10:6-9). This fatal glance proves that this unfortunate woman had left her heart in Sodom and made her a symbol of disordered attachment to worldly possessions. Those who, in the last days, imitate her conduct will greatly risk losing eternal salvation. «Like Lot’s wife,” wrote the Jew Philo, “whoever, despising God’s commands, looks back to what is behind and forgets what is ahead, becomes like a stone.”.
Luke 17.33 Whoever seeks to save their life will lose it, and whoever has lost their life will preserve it. – A serious maxim, which Jesus repeated on several occasions to better instill it in his disciples. Cf. Matthew 10:39; 16:25, and the commentary. It is synonymous with our familiar expression: He who loses wins. Sometimes one loses eternal life by trying to save one's earthly life; but on the contrary, there are fortunate cases where one gains eternity by generously sacrificing the few days one could still spend on earth. Such is the thought of the Savior, with a distinctly Eastern play on words. life (anima) which refers to the soul and life. The Greek expression translated by will save her It is found only here and in the book of Acts, 7, 19. It is very energetic. To lose natural life in the circumstances of which Our Lord speaks is, in a way, says a modern author, "to re-birth it in order to reproduce it in the form of spiritual life, glorified, eternal.".
Luke 17 34 I tell you, on that night, of the two people who will be in the same bed, one will be taken and the other left., 35 of two women who will grind together, one will be taken and the other left,[36 of two men who will be in a field, one will be taken and the other left].» – I'm telling you Solemn transition, by which Jesus introduces various examples intended to show how, in the final catastrophe, salvation or ruin will befall people according to their moral diversity, however identical their outward conditions may be. – First example: Two will be in the same bed…one will be taken, the other left. This phrase, which resounds three times like a somber refrain, describes the diverse destinies reserved for men at the hour of general judgment. Taken : he will be received into the kingdom of heaven; Leave alone He will be set aside, that is, excluded. See Matthew 24:40-41 and the commentary. On that night equivalent to on this day, at this time Verses 24, 30, and 31. Night is mentioned figuratively because it is often seen as the emblem of misfortune, and the last days of the world will be a calamitous era. Or, according to others, it is specifically named here because of the idea that follows: "will be in the same bed." In any case, it is not necessary to take this expression literally, as if the end of the world were to take place during the night. – Second example: Two women who will grind together. On how this operation is done in the East, see the Gospel according to St. Matthew, 24:41. – Third example: Two men who will be in a field…It is likely, however, that this is a gloss borrowed from St. Matthew, since these two lines are missing from most and the best of the Greek manuscripts (A, B, E, G, H, K, L, M, Q, R, S, V, X, Δ, Λ, Γ, etc.). Thus, even those most closely bound together here below may be suddenly separated by an eternal abyss at the Second Coming of Christ, according to the respective states of their consciences. These descriptions, dramatic in their simplicity, show that the last day will begin like any other, finding people going about their ordinary business; but it will not end like any other.
Luke 17.37 They asked him, "Where, Lord?" He replied, "Where the body is, there the vultures will gather."« – The disciples, to whom Jesus recounted these mysterious and terrible scenes, asked him everything in alarm: Where, Lord That is to say, what will be the setting for such events? Deliberately cryptic in his reply, he merely tells them that there is no more need to worry about the topography than the chronology (cf. vv. 20 and 21) of his kingdom. Indeed, the proverb Where will the body be?…means, in its general sense, that wherever the wicked may be found, they will infallibly be struck by heavenly vengeance, which will swoop down upon them like birds of prey upon abandoned corpses. See, moreover, in Matthew 24:28, a reproduction of this proverbial phrase, but with a slightly modified meaning. – Vultures abound in Palestine; this refers to them and not to eagles, which do not live in groups and do not eat carrion.
