Bible Verses About Comfort

How it is used today: Used to comfort anyone who is grieving or hurting: God is close to the brokenhearted and rescues the crushed in spirit.

First spoken: David wrote this after escaping Abimelech (1 Samuel 21). The verse is about those who are humble and repentant before God, the 'contrite in spirit', set against the proud.

The early Christians: No Father in our library explains Psalm 34:18 itself. Our library links it to the same words in Psalm 51:17, 'a broken spirit... a contrite heart': Chrysostom uses them for deep humility before God, Clement of Rome says God wants confession, and Irenaeus calls this the true sacrifice that draws us near to God.

“He shows us a spirit that is not only made low, but completely broken, when he says, "The sacrifice for God is a contrite spirit; a contrite and humble heart God will not despise."” John Chrysostom, Homilies on Matthew

“The Lord, brothers, needs nothing and desires nothing from anyone except that they confess to Him. For the chosen David says, "I will confess to the Lord, and that will please Him more than a young bull with horns and hooves. Let the poor see it and be glad." And again he says, "Offer to God the sacrifice of praise and fulfill your vows to the Most High. And call upon Me in the day of your trouble: I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me." For "the sacrifice of God is a broken spirit."” Clement of Rome, First Epistle to the Corinthians

The difference: Today the verse is mostly heard as comfort for every kind of sadness. The early Christians, quoting the same words from Psalm 51:17, read 'broken and contrite' as a heart humbled over sin that confesses to God, and that is the person God draws near to.

How it is used today: Used at funerals and in loss: God comforts those who grieve the death of a loved one or any sorrow.

First spoken: The second of the Beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus blesses those who mourn and promises they shall be comforted.

The early Christians: Chrysostom, Cyprian and Clement of Alexandria read 'those who mourn' as those who grieve over sins or for righteousness' sake; Chrysostom says ordinary worldly grief is not what Jesus blesses. Chrysostom says the comfort is both now and in the world to come. Cyprian ties mourning to repentance that calls forth God's mercy.

“And here again, he did not mean simply everyone who mourns, but all who mourn for sins. For that other kind of mourning, the kind connected to anything in this life, is certainly forbidden, and forbidden strongly. Paul also clearly said this when he wrote, "The sorrow of the world works death, but godly sorrow works repentance to salvation, not to be regretted."” John Chrysostom, Homilies on Matthew

“He does not threaten punishment to those who are now repenting, mourning, and lamenting, but rather promises pardon and mercy. Therefore the Lord in the Gospel calls those who mourn blessed, because he who mourns calls forth mercy. He who is stubborn and proud stores up wrath for himself, and the punishment of the coming judgment.” Cyprian, Epistles

The difference: Today it is often read as comfort for any grief. Chrysostom says Jesus did not mean everyone who mourns but those who mourn for sins, and Cyprian says repentant mourners obtain mercy while the proud store up wrath.

How it is used today: Used as Jesus' promise that He is preparing a home in heaven with room for every believer, and that He will come back to take them there, which many evangelicals read as the rapture.

First spoken: Jesus says this to the eleven apostles at the Last Supper, right after telling Peter he would deny Him three times and that he could not follow Him now (13:36-38). A few verses later He says, "If you love Me, keep My commandments" (14:15) and speaks of the Father and Son making Their home with the one who keeps His word (14:23).

The early Christians: Chrysostom reads the verses as comfort for the troubled apostles: the place that would receive Peter would receive them too. Irenaeus and Papias, passing on what the elders taught, and Tertullian and Clement of Alexandria all say the "many mansions" are different rewards given according to each person's fruit and worthiness, after the resurrection.

“Or how will there be many mansions in our Father's house, if not according to a diversity of deserts? Or how will one star differ from another star in glory, unless because of the disparity in their rays?” Tertullian, Scorpiace

“This is why the Lord declared, "In My Father’s house are many mansions." For everything belongs to God, who provides everyone with a fitting dwelling-place, just as His Word says, a share is given to each by the Father, according to each person's worthiness.” Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Book V

The difference: Today these verses are used to say Jesus has a room in heaven ready for every believer, and often that He will come to rapture them there. The early Christians read "many mansions" as different dwellings given by each person's deeds and worthiness, after the resurrection: one Father's house, but not the same reward for all.

How it is used today: Used as a comfort that in heaven there are no more tears, pain or death, often read at funerals for loved ones who are now in heaven; careful teachers add that it describes the new heavens and earth after the final judgment, while still teaching that believers go to heaven when they die.

First spoken: John saw this vision while exiled on Patmos and wrote it to seven churches in Asia. It comes after the last judgment (20:11-15) and goes with "a new heaven and a new earth" (21:1) and the holy city "coming down out of heaven from God" (21:2), where "the tabernacle of God is with men" (21:3).

The early Christians: Tertullian reads the verse as a promise for the raised body: "nothing is eternal until after the resurrection," and the eyes God wipes are the same eyes that wept. Irenaeus says the substance of creation is not destroyed but renewed, with the new humanity living on in a new heaven and new earth, and he teaches that the souls of the faithful wait in a place God assigns until the resurrection, and only then, rising bodily, come into God's presence.

“Well, nothing is eternal until after the resurrection. And, he continues, "sorrow and sighing shall flee away." The angel says the same thing to John: "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes," in Revelation 7:17. These are indeed the same eyes that had wept before, and that might weep again, if the loving-kindness of God did not dry up every fountain of tears.” Tertullian, On the Resurrection of the Flesh

“it is clear that the souls of His disciples also, for whom the Lord underwent these things, shall go away into the invisible place assigned to them by God, and remain there until the resurrection, awaiting that event; then receiving their bodies, and rising wholly, that is bodily, just as the Lord rose, they shall come into the presence of God.” Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Book V

The difference: Today this verse is often used to describe heaven, where believers go when they die. The early Christians read it as a promise for the resurrection: the same bodies and eyes that wept will be raised, on a renewed earth, and they taught that the faithful dead wait for that day rather than having it already.

How it is used today: Used to teach eternal security ("once saved, always saved"): once a person is truly saved, nothing at all, not even their own later sins or choices, can separate them from God's love or take away their salvation.

First spoken: Paul wrote this to the church in Rome. Verses 35-37 list what he means: trouble, persecution, hunger, the sword, being "killed all day long" for Christ. The verse lists outside powers (death, life, angels, rulers, anything created) and says none of them can tear us away.

The early Christians: Chrysostom reads it as Paul's burning love for Christ that no outside power could break, and he says Paul still feared one thing: falling away from that love himself. Cyprian warns that even a confessor who suffered for Christ can trade his first faith for later unbelief, and Clement of Alexandria reads the verse as nothing outside us can defeat the faith of one who keeps choosing God.

“For he loved Christ not for the things of Christ, but for Christ's own sake; and because of Him he loved the things that were His. He looked to Him alone, and he feared one thing only: falling away from his love for Him. For this was in itself more dreadful than hell, just as remaining in that love was more desirable than the kingdom of heaven.” John Chrysostom, Homilies on Romans

“But if anyone afterward is blameworthy and guilty, if he has wasted his confession by evil conduct, if he has stained his life by shameful filth, if at last, leaving the Church in which he became a confessor and breaking the harmony of unity, he has exchanged his first faith for later unbelief, he must not flatter himself because of his confession as though he were chosen for the reward of glory, when by this very thing he has become more deserving of punishment.” Cyprian, On the Unity of the Church

The difference: Today this verse is used to teach that a saved person can never fall away. The early Christians read it as a promise that no outside power can tear us from Christ, but they taught that a believer can still fall away by his own choice, and Chrysostom says this was the one thing Paul feared.