Thomas Aquinas, on 1Cor 15:25

“For he must reign, until he hath put all his enemies under his feet.”

“940. – For he must reign. Here the Apostle shows the end of the resurrection as to the removal of the wicked. This he shows by the destruction of all enemies of Christ: first, he mentions their destruction; secondly, the perfection of subjection (v. 26); thirdly, the end of the destruction (v. 28). 941. – First, therefore, he says: I have said that the end will be when He has delivered the kingdom to God the Father. But will Christ have a kingdom in which He should reign: "All power is given to me in heaven and on earth" (Matt 28:18); "and he will reign in the house of Jacob forever" (Lk 1:32)? He must reign, I say, until he has put all enemies under his feet. But aren't they under His feet now, i.e., under Christ's power? The answer is that the enemies of Christ are now under His power, but in two ways: either because they are converted by Him, as Paul, whom he caused to fall on the ground" (Ac 9:3); or inasmuch as Christ does His own will, even in regard to those who act here against Christ's will. So He puts His enemies under his feet by punishing them; but in the future He will put them under His feet, i.e., under Christ's humanity. For just as by the head is understood Christ's godhead, because "the head of Christ is God" (1 Cor 11:3), so by the feet, His humanity. "We will adore in the place where his feet stood" (Ps 132:5). Thus, therefore, the enemies will not only be under the godhead, but also under the humanity of Christ: "At the name of Jesus every knee shall bow" (Phil 2:10). 942. – But why does he say, until he has put all his enemies under his feet? Will he not reign until He does that? The answer is that this can be taken in two ways: for "until" sometimes determines time, as if I should say: I will not see God, until I die; because until them I will not see, but after that I shall see. Sometimes it is taken for the infinite, as when it says in (Matt 1:25): "He did not know her until she brought forth her son." Not that he wanted to say that he did not know her only up to the birth of her Son, but neither did he afterwards ever know her, as Jerome says. This manner is observed, when one intends to exclude only those about which there is doubt. Hence, the Gospel excluded only that which seems to be in doubt, namely, that Joseph knew the Blessed Virgin before she gave birth. But the fact that he did not know her after giving birth is doubted by no one, since he saw so many mysteries concerning the child, and he was so often warned by angels, and Jesus had been adored by the Magi; hence he could already have known that she was the mother of God and, therefore, he did not wish to preclude this. This is the way the Apostle speaks here. For the fact that anyone should reign with his enemies not yet subdued, seems to be doubtful, but that He should reign after His enemies have been subjugated, no one doubts. Therefore, he excludes the first, saying: Until he puts his enemies. As if to say: it is true that Christ has a kingdom and although there are some enemies, while they do not do His will, nevertheless He rules and puts his enemies under his feet. 943. – The phrase, until he puts his enemies can be understood in another way, so that "until" determines a time and is put for the future. As if to say: He should reign. But when? Until he puts his enemies under his feet. As if to say: until then He will reign, until He puts his enemies under his feet, but after that He will not reign. But according to this explanation "to reign" does not imply having a kingdom, but in making progress in reigning and increasing the kingdom, and this as to a perfect manifestation of a kingdom of Christ. As if to say: Christ's kingdom grows gradually, namely, inasmuch as it is manifested and becomes known, until he puts his enemies under his feet, i.e., until all enemies admit that He is reigning, i.e., my kingdom does not grow and it is not further manifested, because it will already be fully manifest.”

Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.