Among these farmers, however, some shall be saved, and therefore he adds: One shall be taken, namely to the summit of eternal goods; Haggai 2: "I will take you, O Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, and I will make you as a signet ring, because I have chosen you." - And the other shall be left, namely in the calamity of infernal reproaches; Isaiah 27: "The fortified city shall be desolate, the fair city shall be left and abandoned like a wilderness."
From all these things it is gathered that in any state of those to be saved, some will be good and some will be evil; and thus all should fear, according to that passage of Ecclesiastes 9: "There are just and wise men, and their works are in the hand of God; and yet man does not know whether he is worthy of love or of hatred, but all things are kept uncertain for the future." On account of which, if anyone wishes to escape the future judgment, there is necessary for him not only contempt of the world, but also divine fear, according to that passage of Isaiah 2: "Enter into the rock and hide in the pit of the earth from the face of the fear of the Lord and from the glory of His Majesty"; "for He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens." Therefore let each one, terrified, cry out with the Apostle and say: "O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are His judgments," etc.
61. (Verse 36.). Answering, they say to Him, etc. After He described the manner of escaping and the state of those who escape, there is added here finally the terminus of the escape and the place of rest, which the Apostles inquire about, when it is said: Answering, namely the Apostles, they say to Him: Where, Lord? namely, will one be taken up and left behind. Whence the Apostles inquire about both, but the Lord answers one expressly and hints at the other tacitly; whence the Gloss: "To those asking two things He answers one, namely that the Saints are to be taken up with Him; the other He hints at by keeping silent, namely that the wicked, repelled from Him, are to be damned with the devil."
62. (Verse 37). And therefore he adds: Who said to them: Wherever the body shall be, there also will the eagles be gathered together. Note here a noteworthy example: the elect will be gathered to Christ as to the abundance of their refreshment, just as eagles are gathered to a body as to food. Job, chapter thirty-nine, speaking of the eagle says: "Wherever there is a carcass, it is immediately present." Whence Jerome says: "Eagles and vultures are said to sense carcasses across the sea." Moreover, they are gathered by a most keen sense of smell, a most sharp sight, a most swift movement, and a most avid appetite. So the Saints will be gathered to Christ, to the incarnate Word, by a most ardent desire, a most clear gaze, a most savory taste, and by an excessive movement of love. On account of which the Prophet David also, expressing the approach of these eagles to Christ, expresses in himself desire: "As the deer longs for the springs of water, so my soul longs for you, O God"; gaze: "For with you is the fountain of life, and in your light we shall see light," etc.; taste: "I shall be satisfied when your glory appears"; love: "For my heart was inflamed." As a figure of these things, it is said in Job chapter thirty-nine: "Will the eagle be raised up at your command and make its nest on high? It dwells in rocks and abides on jagged flints"; "its eyes gaze from afar, and its young ones lap up blood," etc. Concerning the nature of the eagle, Ambrose says that the eagle seeks the heights, abandons lowly things, and is said to have a long life. So the Saints after the resurrection, renewed after the manner of the eagle, according to that saying of the Psalm: "Your youth shall be renewed like the eagle's," will both tend upward and live forever with the Lord, according to that passage of First Thessalonians chapter four: "Then we who are alive, who remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet Christ in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord."