ACC ~ Revelation 21 v4

THERE WILL BE NO MORE SORROW. TERTULLIAN: If sorrow, and mourning, and sighing and death itself assail us from the afflictions both of soul and body, how shall they be removed, except by the cessation of their causes, that is to say, the afflictions of flesh and soul? Where will you find adversities in the presence of God? Where incursions of an enemy in the bosom of Christ? Where attacks of the devil in the face of the Holy Spirit—now that the devil himself and his angels are “cast into the lake of fire”? Where now is necessity, and what [the pagans] call fortune or fate? What plague awaits the redeemed from death after their eternal pardon? What wrath is there for the reconciled after grace? What weakness after their renewed strength? What risk and danger after their salvation? ON THE RESURRECTION OF THE FLESH 58.

THE DEVIL WILL BE NO MORE WHEN DEATH IS NO MORE. ORIGEN: It must be understood concerning the devil that he has certainly been conquered and crucified, but for those who have been crucified with Christ, moreover for all believers and likewise for all people, the devil will also be crucified at the time when what the apostle says will be fulfilled: “As in Adam all die, so also in Christ will all be made alive.” Thus there is also in this a mystery of future resurrection. For then, too, the people will again be divided into two parts; then, too, there will also be certain ones in front and others behind, who when they unite into one for Jesus, then, at that time, the devil will certainly be no more “because death will be no more.” … Concerning the devil, the apostle says, “Death, the last enemy, is destroyed”because death is truly conquered when “this mortal is swallowed up by life.” HOMILIES ON JOSHUA 8.4.

THE SUFFERING OF THE SAINTS WILL COME TO AN END. OECUMENIUS: “And he will wipe away every tear from their eyes,” it says. The prophet Isaiah says something similar to this: “Death has prevailed and swallowed [people] up, but again God has taken every tear away from every face.” For if, as the holy apostle says, “pain and sorrow and sighing have fled away” in that blissful life of the saints,how would any tears remain in the absence of those things? “The former things have passed away,” it says. By this he means that the suffering of the saints has come to an end. Now the rewards for their toils have come. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 21.3-5.

IN THIS LIFE, HOLINESS RESULTS IN MORE ABUNDANT WEEPING. PRIMASIUS: It is certain that all these benefits belong to the future life and not to this life. Indeed, in this life the more one is holy and the more full a person is of holy desires, the more abundant will be his weeping in prayer. For this reason we read, “My tears have been my food day and night,” and again, “Every night I flood my bed with tears.” COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 21.4.

THE CHURCH WILL HAVE BLISS. CAESARIUS OF ARLES: He has said all of this concerning the glory of the church such as it will possess after the resurrection. EXPOSITION ON THE APOCALYPSE 21.1-4, HOMILY 18.

THE VISION OF INEXPRESSIBLE GLADNESS. ANDREW OF CAESAREA: In this tent made without hands there is no weeping nor any tears, for he who supplies the joy of the eternal temple will give to all the saints the vision of inexpressible gladness. That is, it is written, “pain and sorrow and sighing have passed away.” That “the first things have passed away” signifies that the suffering of the saints and the arrogance of the wicked have ceased, for an exchange of circumstances will occur for each of these groups. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 21.3-4.

INCORRUPTION TO THE BODY AND HEAVENLY CONTEMPLATION TO THE MIND. BEDE: The glory of that city will be so great and so exalted from the goodness of God that no remnant of its [former] agedness will remain, namely, when the celestial incorruption will raise up all the bodies [of the saints] and the contemplation of the eternal King will feed their minds. … It was earlier said that death had been sent into the lake of fire. We can also now understand these statements in the same way, namely, that when the holy city has been glorified at the last judgment, mourning and crying and mortality will remain in Gehenna alone. EXPLANATION OF THE APOCALYPSE 21.4.