621. Ce sont ceux qui suivent l'Agneau, quelque part qu'il aille, signifie qu'ils ont été conjoints au Seigneur par l'amour et ta foi envers Lui, parce qu'ils ont vécu selon ses préceptes. Que ce soit là ce qui est signifié, on le voit clairement par ces paroles du Seigneur :

— « Celui qui fait mes préceptes, celui-là M'aime ; et je l'aimerai, et à lui je viendrai, et chez lui demeure je ferai. » — Jean 14:20-23

— Et ailleurs :

— « Quand le Berger des brebis a fait sortir ses propres brebis, devant elles il marche, et les brebis le suivent, parce qu'elles connaissent sa voix. Mes brebis ma voix entendent, et Moi je les connais, et elles Me suivent. » — Jean 10:4, 5.

5551. 'In sorrow to the grave' means without hope of a restoration to life. This is clear from the meaning of 'sorrow' here as without hope, for sorrow comes when no hope exists any longer; and from the meaning of 'the grave' as resurrection and regeneration, dealt with in 2916, 2917, 3256, 4621, and so a restoration - a restoration of the Church - to life. For if neither the internal represented by 'Joseph' is present within the Church, nor the intermediary represented by 'Benjamin', nor faith in the will, which is charity, represented by 'Simeon', no hope of its restoration to life exists any longer.

[2] It does indeed seem strange that 'the grave' means a restoration to life; but that strangeness is due to man's idea about the grave. He makes no distinction between the grave and death, nor even between the grave and the corpse lying in it. But angels in heaven cannot have any such idea about the grave; theirs is an entirely different one from man's, namely the idea of resurrection and restoration to life. For when a person's corpse is committed to the grave he himself is raised into the next life. When thinking about the grave therefore the angels have no idea of death, only of life and consequently of a restoration to life.