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What the Fathers say
Eastern Fathers
John Chrysostom
"Into the kingdom of the Son of His love." He said not simply, "the kingdom of heaven," but gave a grandeur to his discourse by saying, "The kingdom of the Son," for no praise can be greater than this, as he saith elsewhere also: "If we endure, we shall also reign with Him." He hath counted us worthy of the same things with the Son; and not only so, but what gives it greater force, with His Beloved Son. …
Theophylact of Ohrid
Not only is it important that He deemed us worthy of the Kingdom, but also what we were before this. For it is not the same thing to give something to the worthy and to the unworthy, as he also says in the Epistle to the Romans: "scarcely for a righteous man will one die" (Rom. 5:7). So then, He delivered us who were under the power of darkness, that is, of error and the tyranny of the devil. And he did not simply say "from darkness," but "from the power of darkness." For he had great power over us and ruled over us. …
Western Saints
Augustine of Hippo
"And he cast him into the abyss,"—i.e., cast the devil into the abyss. By the abyss is meant the countless multitude of the wicked whose hearts are unfathomably deep in malignity against the Church of God; not that the devil was not there before, but he is said to be cast in thither, because, when prevented from harming believers, he takes more complete possession of the ungodly. For that man is more abundantly possessed by the devil who is not only alienated from God, but also gratuitously hates those who serve God... …
Thomas Aquinas
First, he mentions this transference; and secondly, the way in which men are the slaves of sin before they receive grace. For since sin is a darkness, men before receiving grace are in the power of darkness, i.e., either of the evil spirits or of sins: "Against the world rulers of this present darkness" (Eph 6:12), "Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken" (Is 49:25). He has transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, i.e., that we might be the kingdom of God: "My kingdom is not of this world" (Jn 18:36). …
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