Thomas Aquinas Commentary Hebrews 1:13-14

"But of which of the angels hath he said at any time, Sit thou on my right hand, Till I make thine enemies the footstool of thy feet? Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to do service for the sake of them that shall inherit salvation?" — Hebrews 1:13-14 (ASV)

Previously, the Apostle proved three ways in which Christ excels the angels; here he proves a fourth: that He sits at the right hand of majesty, which pertains to His dignity. In this regard, he does two things:

1. He brings forward David’s authority to show this.
2. He shows that the angels lack this dignity (verse 14).

Regarding the first point, he does two things: first, he describes Christ’s dignity, and second, he reveals this with a sign (verse 13b).

He says, therefore: to which angel has He—that is, God—ever said what was said to Christ? This is as if to say: It is not found that God said this to an angel, but He said it to Christ. And Christ Himself claims that this was said of Him. But what God says, namely, sit at my right hand, can be referred to the divine nature, in which Christ is equal to the Father because He has judicial and royal power equal to the Father: All that the Father has is mine (John 16:15). Indeed, the Father Himself said this from eternity, because He generated the Son by speaking, and by generating Him, gave Him equality with the Father. It can also be referred to His human nature, according to which He sits near the transcendent goods of the Father. In this case, the Father spoke when He joined His Word to a human nature.

Then (in verse 13b) he shows Christ’s dignity with a sign. But two questions arise here. First, since from all eternity all things are subject to the Son inasmuch as He is God, and second, since after the resurrection Christ said, All power is given to me in heaven and in earth (Matthew 28:18), what does He still expect to be subjected to His footstool?

It should be noted that something can be in someone’s power in two ways. In one way, it is in regard to his authority. In this sense, all things have been subject to the Son of God from all eternity, inasmuch as they were decreed to be done. In time, as they came to exist, they were subject to the Son of God as God; but to Him as man, they were subject from the time of His conception. In another way, it is in regard to the exercise of His power. In this sense, all things are not yet subject to Him, but will be only at the end of the world, because He does not yet exercise His power over all things by subjecting them to Himself: According to the working by which he is able even to subdue all things to himself (Philippians 3:21).

But why does he say, footstool? Perhaps because that word signifies nothing more than full and perfect subjection, for something is said to be perfectly subject to someone which he can tread underfoot. Or, it could be because just as God is the head of Christ, as it says in 1 Corinthians 11:3, so Christ’s feet would be His humanity: We shall adore in the place where his feet stood (Psalms 131:7). I will make them your footstool means not only will I subject your enemies to your divinity, but even to your humanity.

Origen erred on this point, for he understood only one type of subjection. He said that just as being subject to the light is nothing more than being enlightened, so also, since Christ is truth, justice, goodness, and whatever else He can be called, to be subjected to the Savior is nothing less than to be saved. Therefore, he concluded that in the end all things, including the devils, would be saved, because otherwise not all things would be subjected to Christ. But this is contrary to what is stated in Matthew 25:41: Depart, you accursed, into everlasting fire.

Hence, it should be noted that there are two types of subjection. One is by the will of the subjects, as good servants are subject to their master as their king; in this way, only the good are subject to Christ. The other is by the will of the master, where force is exerted on the subjects. This is how the wicked are subject to Christ—not because they desire His dominion, but because Christ will accomplish His will concerning them by punishing them, as they refused to do His will here. And this is what is designated by the footstool, because whatever is trodden upon is crushed: Heaven is my throne and the earth my footstool (Isaiah 66:1).

Another question concerns the statement, until I make your enemies your footstool. The issue is that if He sits until they are made His footstool, this might imply that once they are made His footstool, He will no longer sit. I answer that words like until or as long as are sometimes used in a finite sense, meaning they designate the end of the action they describe, as when I say, “Sit here until I come.” But sometimes they are used in an infinite sense, when no end is implied, as when I say, “He did not repent as long as he lived,” because he did not repent even after death. For, as Jerome says, the text specifies that which might be in doubt, but leaves to the reader's understanding that which is not in doubt. There is doubt whether a person will repent in this life, but not after death. So it is in the present case. Since many now attack and blaspheme Christ, there is doubt about whether He is sitting now. But there is no doubt that He will sit when all things are subject to Him; therefore, the text does not need to state it explicitly.

Then he shows that this dignity does not belong to the angels when he asks, Are they not all ministering spirits? Here he does three things:

1. He indicates their function.
2. He describes the performance of that function (verse 14b).
3. He shows the fruit of that performance (verse 14c).

He says, therefore, Are they not all ministering spirits? (Compare to Psalm 102:21, His ministers who do his will). But Daniel 7:10 says, Thousands of thousands ministered to him, and ten thousand times a hundred thousand stood before him. Therefore, it seems there are some who minister and some who stand near. Consequently, not all of them minister.

I answer that just as with artisans there are two kinds of workers—some who work with their hands, and others who do not, but instead oversee and direct what is to be done—so it is with the angels. Some carry out the divine commands, while others oversee and direct their performance. Therefore, if we take “ministers” in a broad sense to include both the executors and the directors, then all are ministers, inasmuch as the higher angels carry out God’s will in regard to the middle ones, these in regard to the lower, and the lower in regard to us. But if only those who perform the tasks are called “ministers,” while those who are immediately enlightened by God are called “assistants,” then some minister while others assist and direct.

Therefore, the assistants are those who receive God’s illumination directly from God Himself, and they receive names related to God, such as Seraphim (meaning, “those who love God”), Cherubim (“those who know God”), and Thrones (“those who carry”). The ministering spirits, however, are those who receive from them and deliver to others.

But this seems to contradict Gregory’s statement that those who “stand near” are the ones who enjoy the beatific vision. Therefore, since all the angels see God’s essence, according to Matthew 18:10, Their angels always see the face of my Father in heaven, it seems that all of them assist.

I answer that one of the first scholars to study the books of Dionysius tried to preserve both the Apostle’s and Gregory’s opinions by saying that the lower angels do not see God face to face, since they are not “standing near.” But this opinion is heretical. Since happiness is made complete in the vision of God, it would follow that if the lower angels do not see God, they are not happy. Furthermore, the Lord Himself said, Their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father (Matthew 18:10).

Therefore, it must be admitted that all see God’s essence. Just as God, by knowing His essence, also knows Himself and all things other than Himself, so too the angels, by seeing the essence of God, know it and all things in it. In this vision, they are happy only because they see Him, not because they see other things in Him. Hence, Augustine says in the Confessions: “Blessed is he who sees you, even if he does not see these other things. But he who sees you and other things is not any happier for seeing the other things, but is happy only for seeing you.”

The vision by which they see God’s essence is common to all the beatified. However, in the vision by which they know all other things in God, one angel is above another. The higher angels, having a higher nature and intellect, see more in God than the intermediate angels do, and these see more than the lowest. Hence, the higher angels see everything that pertains to their office and is to be accomplished by the others. The lower angels do not see these things as perfectly. Therefore, some inform the others of their duties, and these higher ones alone “stand near.” Nevertheless, all see God. The sign of this, according to Dionysius, is that when some angels ask a question, God answers, I that speak justice; but to the question, Who is king of glory? the angels, not God, answer, the Lord of hosts, he is the king of glory. Thus, the function of the angels is clear.

But this seems to be a description of the function they perform, when he says, sent forth to serve. Therefore, it seems that all are performers. For example, Psalms 33:8 says, The angel of the Lord shall encamp round about them that fear him: and shall deliver them, and Isaiah 6:6 says, One of the seraphim flew to me. But the seraphim belong to the highest order. Therefore, if they are sent, then it follows all the more that the others are also sent. But this is contrary to Dionysius, who repeats what he received from the Apostle, namely, that only the lower angels are sent.

I answer that some say the higher angels are sent and depart when certain cases arise. But it seems to me that the four highest orders—namely, the Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones, and Dominations—are never sent, but the lower ones are. This is obvious from their names: the Virtues are sent to work wonders; the Powers to restrain the ethereal powers. But the Dominations are so called because they direct all these lower ones. The other three highest orders receive their names from the action they perform immediately in relation to God, and they dispense it to the others.

Hence, if the higher orders are said to be sent, it is because there are two kinds of “mission.” One implies local motion, and this is how the lower angels are sent. The other is a mission that involves the application and direction of a new effect in the creature, and this is how the Son and the Holy Spirit are sent. This is also how the higher angels are sent, because their power is sent to the lower ones to be passed on to others. And if Isaiah says, One of the seraphim flew to me (Isaiah 6:6), it is because the lower angels use the names of those by whose power and authority they act, and they attribute their actions to them. Because that lower angel performed his office in the power of the Seraphim, he was called by the name “Seraphim,” even though he was not a seraph by nature.

Then he mentions the fruit of their activity when he says, for the sake of those who are to receive the inheritance of salvation. And although all are called, not all receive the inheritance. Therefore, the ones who do receive it obtain the fruit of the angels’ mission: We would have cured Babylon, but she is not healed (Jeremiah 51:9). Again, when he says, for them that shall receive the inheritance of salvation, the fruit of their service is mentioned, which is that people receive the inheritance of salvation.

For the purpose of their actions toward humanity is that the number of the elect be filled. And he says “for them,” and not for all, because although all are called, few are chosen, as it says in Matthew 22:14. He says “the inheritance” because only sons obtain it: But if sons, then heirs also (Romans 8:17). He says “receive” because the kingdom of God is obtained by labor, sweat, and diligence: The kingdom of God suffers violence (Matthew 11:12). Therefore, those will be saved who take care to guard the divine illuminations and inspirations impressed on them by the good angels and to make them fruitful. Otherwise, they will hear what was said in Jeremiah 51:9: We would have cured Babylon, but she is not healed.