Apocalyptic literature is by its nature enigmatic, sometimes intentionally misleading so that those on the outside don’t understand it. Eschatology (final things) is written in the apocalyptic genre. Jesus is intentionally murky. We aren’t supposed to fully grasp it. Eg Matt 24,

The beauty of eschatology is that it is not a primary thing. We can land in different places and still be in community. 

“Where the corpse is the vultures gather” was an idiom for you will see when you see; you’ll know when we get there like “where there is smoke there is fire.”

Some people think Jesus is talking specifically and only about the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD. There is a lot that lines up with that event. Maybe there is a double fulfillment of already happened and still coming. Or it is completely about end times and the return of Jesus. 

Jews believed that when the Messiah came everything would be wrapped up in one generation and bleed directly into God’s full reign. In their mind the coming of the Messiah and God’s Kingdom and final things were all one event. Jesus is correcting this understanding and letting them know that their timelines were incorrect. 

Jesus says to the Pharisees, you are waiting for the Kingdom of God, but it’s already here because I am here. There were signs, but they weren’t the signs you were looking for. 

Then he turns to the disciples to give further answers. He tells them that as time goes by his followers will increasingly long for the Kingdom of God fully realized and made perfect. People will long so much that they will point to this time and place and that time and place. Don’t get caught up in it. We won’t have to speculate. We won’t wonder if we missed it. It will be obvious and unmissable by the entire world. Until then, stay faithful. The more important thing right now is the cross. 

Then Jesus describes what it will be like in the days leading up to the return of Christ. The things that come to mind when we think of the days of Noah and the days of Lot are unrestrained evil. Jesus doesn’t mention wickedness. He focuses on how normal their daily lives are. The phrasing he uses means “same ole, same ole.” God made a way out for both the people in the day of Noah and Lot, but they were so focused on the trivialities of their daily lives that they missed it. The warning is to not get lost in the details of our ordinary lives that we miss what God is doing. These warnings apply to me. 

Vs 34-37 When the return happens proximity won’t matter. Being near to someone that knows Jesus won’t save you. Each person has to answer for themselves. Did you respond personally to His invitation. 

The fact that Jesus chose this gruesome idiom points to the ones being taken are being removed to judgement and death. This isn’t talking about the rapture. Corpses and vultures are symbolic of judgement.