Thomas Aquinas Commentary Colossians 1:18-23

"And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. For it was the good pleasure [of the Father] that in him should all the fulness dwell; and through him to reconcile all things unto himself, having made peace through the blood of his cross; through him, [I say], whether things upon the earth, or things in the heavens. And you, being in time past alienated and enemies in your mind in your evil works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and without blemish and unreproveable before him: if so be that ye continue in the faith, grounded and stedfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel which ye heard, which was preached in all creation under heaven; whereof I Paul was made a minister." — Colossians 1:18-23 (ASV)

After the Apostle commended Christ in His relationship to God and to all creatures, he now commends Him in His relationship to the Church. He does this in three ways:

1. In a general way.
2. In particular, with reference to the Colossians (verse 21).
3. In reference to himself (verse 23b).

Regarding the first point, he does two things: first, he mentions Christ’s relationship to the entire Church, and second, he explains this relationship (verse 18b).

He says, therefore, that Christ, the firstborn among creatures, is the one in whom we have our redemption. But because He has been made the head of the Church, two things must be explained: first, in what way the Church is a body, and second, how Christ is its head. The Church is called a body because of its similarity to a single human being. This similarity is twofold: first, in that it has distinct members, as in And his gifts were that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers (Ephesians 4:11). Second, the members of the Church serve each other in different ways: The members may have the same care for one another (1 Corinthians 12:25); Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2). Furthermore, just as a body is one because its soul is one, so the Church is one because the Spirit is one: There is one body and one Spirit (Ephesians 4:4); Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread (1 Corinthians 10:17). Next, we must consider the relationship of the members to the head of the Church—that is, to Christ. For Christ is the head of the Church. But you, O Lord, are the lifter of my head (Psalms 3:3).

He explains what it means to be a head, saying, He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead. The head has three privileges over the other members of the body.

1. It is superior in dignity, because it is a source and a ruler.
2. It has the fullness of the senses, which are all in the head.
3. It is the source of an inflow of sense and movement to the members of the body.

Therefore, Paul shows how Christ is head: first, because of His dignity; second, because of the fullness of His grace (verse 19); and third, because of the inflow from Him (verse 20).

The Church exists in two states: the state of grace in the present time and the state of glory in the future. But it is the same Church, and Christ is its head in both states, because He is the first in grace and the first in glory. With respect to the first, he says, He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, because He is not only first in grace as a man, but all people are justified by faith in Christ: By one man’s obedience many will be made righteous (Romans 5:19). So he says, He is the beginning [principium]—that is, the source of justification and grace in the entire Church—because even in the Old Testament, some were justified by faith in Christ: I am the beginning who am speaking to you (John 8:25); With you is the beginning (Psalms 110:3) [Vulgate]. Christ is also the beginning of the state of glory, and so he says, the firstborn from the dead. The reason for this is that the resurrection from the dead is a kind of second birth, because it restores us to eternal life: In the rebirth, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne (Matthew 19:28). But Christ is the first of all; thus, He is the firstborn from the dead—that is, the firstborn of those who are born by the resurrection.

But what about Lazarus (John 11)? I answer that he and some others did not rise to the immortal life mentioned above, but to a mortal life. But Christ, having risen from the dead, will never die again (Romans 6:9); Jesus Christ, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth (Revelation 1:5); Christ has risen from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep (1 Corinthians 15:20). This is so that in everything He might be preeminent: preeminent in the gifts of grace, because He is the beginning, and preeminent in the gifts of glory, because He is the firstborn: In every nation I have had first place [Vulgate].

Then, in verse 19, he shows the dignity of the head with respect to the fullness of all graces. For some saints had particular graces, but Christ had all graces. And so he says, that in him all the fullness was pleased to dwell. [It seems that Thomas’s version lacked the words “of God.”] Each word has its own force. Pleased indicates that the gifts Christ had as man were not the result of fate or merits, as Photinus says, but were due to the good pleasure of the divine will taking this man into a unity of person: This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased (Matthew 3:17). He says, all, because some have one gift and others have different ones; but with Christ, The Father had given all things into his hands (John 13:3). He says, fullness, because one can have a gift without having the fullness of it or its power, since one might lack something unwillingly. But John says that Christ was full of grace and truth (John 1:14). My abode is in the fullness of the saints . He says to dwell, because some received the use of a grace for only a time. Thus, the spirit of prophecy was not always possessed by the prophets, but it is continuously present in Christ, because He always has control over this fullness to use it as He wishes: He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit, as we read in John (1:33).

Then, when he says, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, he shows that Christ is the head of the Church because of the inflow from Him. This is the third characteristic of a head. First, he shows the inflow of grace, and second, he explains it.

He says, therefore: I say that it pleased God not only that this fullness exist in Christ, but that it also flow from Christ to us. And so he says, and through him to reconcile to himself all things. God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself (2 Corinthians 5:19).

He mentions the nature of this reconciliation and how all things are reconciled. Now, two things must be considered in a reconciliation. First are the matters in which the reconciled persons agree. People at odds have conflicting wills, but when they have been reconciled, they agree on certain things. In this way, wills that were previously in conflict are made to harmonize in Christ.

For example, consider the wills of men, of God, and of the angels. The will of men is represented, because Christ is a man, and the will of God is represented, because Christ is God. There was also conflict between the Jews, who wanted the law, and the Gentiles, who did not. But Christ created harmony between the two, because He was from the Jews and He freed us from the legal observances.

This harmony was accomplished by the blood of His cross. The cause of discord between God and humanity was sin; the discord between the Jews and the Gentiles was caused by the law. Christ destroyed sin by His cross and fulfilled the law, and in this way, He took away the causes of discord: You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem (Hebrews 12:22). Thus we are reconciled and all things are set at peace, whether on earth—that is, Jews and Gentiles—or in heaven—that is, the angels and God. And so when Christ was born the angels sang: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men (Luke 2:14). Again, Christ said at His resurrection: Peace be with you (John 20:19); For he is our peace, who has made us both one (Ephesians 2:14).

Then, in verse 21, Christ is commended because of the gifts He gave them. First, Paul recalls their past condition; second, Christ’s gift (verse 22); and third, what they must do now (verse 23).

Their past condition had three evils: in their intellect, they were ignorant; in their affections, they were enemies of justice; and in their actions, they committed many sins. Regarding the first, he says, estranged; regarding the second, hostile in mind, according to the reading of one version. This shows that there was a defect in that wisdom that the Jews proclaimed about the one God: Men loved darkness rather than light (John 3:19). But were the Jewish people bound to the law of Moses? Yes, they were, as far as it concerned the worship of the one God. Or, we could say the Jews were estranged in mind—that is, by choice, maliciously contradicting God: They turned aside from following him (Job 34:27). As to the third evil of their past condition, he says, doing evil deeds. Their deeds were evil, as we read in John (3:19).

Then, when he says, He has now reconciled, he mentions the benefits coming from Christ. The first of these is reconciliation in His body, and so he says, He has now reconciled in his body of flesh. He says, His body of flesh, not because His body and His flesh are not the same, but to show that Christ took a real body: And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). A body of flesh—that is, a mortal body: God, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and of sin, has condemned sin in the flesh (Romans 8:3). The second benefit from Christ is holiness; thus he says, in order to present you holy. So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood (Hebrews 13:12). The third benefit is their cleansing from sin, and as to this he says, and blameless. The blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purifies your conscience from dead works (Hebrews 9:14). Looking to the future, he says, irreproachable. Be zealous to be found by him without spot or blemish and at peace (2 Peter 3:14). And he adds, before him. Man sees things that appear, but the Lord beholds the heart (1 Kings 16:7).

What God requires of us is that we be firm in faith and hope. And so Paul continues, provided that you continue in the faith, stable. For faith is a foundation; if it is firm, the entire structure of the Church is firm. And steadfast in hope, not weakening from within, not shifting by allowing others to shake that hope. This hope, I say, is the hope of the gospel—that is, the hope that the Gospel gives for the good things of the kingdom of heaven: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand (Matthew 4:17). And there is no excuse, because the Gospel has been preached; he uses the past tense here instead of the future tense because this future event is so certain. The Gospel has been preached by the apostles to every creature under heaven—that is, to every new creature, the faithful, for whom it had been prepared.