And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes: and death shall be no more. Nor mourning, nor crying, nor sorrow shall be any more, for the former things are passed away.
και εξαλειψει εξαλειψει απ αυτων παν δακρυον απο των οφθαλμων αυτων και ο θανατος ουκ εσται ετι ουτε πενθος ουτε κραυγη ουτε πονος ουκ εσται ετι οτι τα πρωτα απηλθον απηλθεν
Primasius of Hadrumetum stresses that the verse concerns the life to come, not this life, where the holier a person is, the more tearful his prayer. For Andrew of Caesarea, God grants all the saints eternal gladness there. Andrew and Oecumenius read "the former things have passed away" as the end of the saints' sufferings and the time of reward.
5 Church Fathers comment on this verse
In this tabernacle not made with hands there will be neither lamentation nor tears, because the Giver of eternal joy will grant all the saints unceasing and eternal gladness. This accords with Holy Scripture, which says that pain, sorrow, and sighing have fled away from there (Isa 35:10). The words the former things have passed away mean that the pride of the impious and the sufferings of the saints will have their proper end.
John said all this about the glory of the Church, which she will possess after the resurrection. Caesarius has Rev 21:1-4 in mind.
The prophet Isaiah said something similar: Death shall be swallowed up forever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces (Isa 25:8). For if, according to the divine Apostle, pain, sorrow, and sighing will depart (Isa 35:10; Isa 51:11) in that blessed life of the saints, what tears can still remain in their absence? It says: the former things have passed away. This means that the sufferings of the saints will come to an end. Now the time of reward for labors has arrived.
It is clear that all this pertains not to this life, but to the life to come. For now, in this life, the holier a man is and the more filled he is with holy desires, the more abundant his prayer is in tears. Therefore we read: My tears have been my bread day and night (Ps 41:4), and again: every night I wash my bed (Ps 6:7).
The heavenly voice explains the meaning of the New Jerusalem: it is the true tabernacle, the true Church of Christ, whose image was shown to Moses. Here God Himself will dwell with those who have pleased Him, as He once dwelt with the ancient Israelites in the tabernacle of witness.
But this present dwelling of God with men will not be like His former communion with them. Previously, worthy and holy men conversed with God under various forms, or else sensed His nearness to them by faith and in the heart.
Here, in the Kingdom of Heaven, there are no veils and no image concealing the Godhead. Here the ever-existing light of God will directly illumine the soul of man. All the sufferings of the saints who are worthy of Christ end in this present life, and all who labor and are heavy laden will find rest in Him (see Mt 11:28).
Passages read together with this verse.
Greek text, 27 words with lemma, transliteration and Strong’s number. Tap to expand.
THEOSIS