And the seventy returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are subject to us through thy name.
The seventy-two come back from their mission with one thing on their lips: evil spirits obeyed them. Their report is true and their joy is real. Yet the Lord's answer will show them they have seized the smaller half of what happened.
Their report says more about the One who sent them than about them. Israel had waited a long time for power like this.
The seventy finished their mission, gave their testimony, and came back saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us through your name." This was a great witness to Messiah's power. Men in Israel always looked — the faithful most of all — for God to show His power over Satan through the Messiah in the world... And now what a sign and a seal He gave! He cast out demons, and His servants did the same through His name.
Working a miracle is one thing. Handing that power to someone else is another. Only the second tells you who Jesus is.
He gave others the power to work miracles, to heal the sick, to cleanse the lepers, to raise the dead, to cast out demons. As another has said, any man may work a wonder if God empowers him; but none except God can give the power to do so. Elijah's cloak fell on Elisha; but when Elisha used it, he asked, "Where is the Lord God of Elijah?" The disciples, though, cast out demons in His name — the name of Jesus — when He sent them. They used in His name the power that He had given them.
One writer presses the wording. He reads it as in the name, not merely through it — as the ESV also has it.
He who sends us out to act in His name sustains us in the mission with all His power. No one goes to war at his own expense at any time. His name, indeed, when rightly borne and used, carries omnipotence with it. So when the seventy returned to the Lord, they said, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us" — not "through" Your name, as some translate it, but "in Your name."... So the mission and the power to carry it out belong together. Only faith — faith in action — is the essential condition for using that power.
Should the outcome have surprised them at all?
They should have expected this, since the Lord had sent them for it. He did not encourage their excitement over the work, though He did speak of seeing Satan fall from heaven...
They described a handful of local victories. He answered by describing the end of the war.
"Subject to us," they said; not going in thought beyond themselves. But the Lord took at once a comprehensive view of it all. He knew what it pointed to — the downfall of the enemy. They spoke of the demons. He spoke of Satan... The subjection of the demons to His name was the guarantee of complete victory over all the power of the enemy. As yet men might not, did not see that. It was like the cloud the size of a man's hand, which Elijah's servant saw. But that cloud grew until it covered the whole sky. In the same way, the enemy's power had begun to give way, and it would be destroyed completely.
Success in service is a real thing, and also a hazardous one for people new to it.
They had been preaching their first sermons and performing their first miracles. They were therefore exposed to the deadly trap of the beginner... But the Lord showed them that their immature judgment had made them miss the true proportion of things. The gifts of grace far exceeded in value the equipment for service. Their names were written in heaven and not in the dust of the earth.
The Lord does not take their joy away. He points them to a greater one.
No power over evil can be compared to the joy of His grace. That power is real now, and in the end it will display the full glory of God. But the joy of grace is greater: not merely seeing Satan turned out, but God brought in. And meanwhile, in the communion of the Father and of the Son, they have their portion and their names enrolled in heaven.
- Sent — He who sends them sustains them with all His power. No one goes to war at his own expense.
- Named — Anyone may work a wonder if God empowers him. Only God can give that power to another.
- Sign — Demons obeying His servants sealed the Messiah's power, the very power Israel had long looked for.
- Satan — They counted local victories. He saw the whole war, and took their small success as the pledge of the enemy's fall.
- Surpassed — Grace given outweighs power granted. A name written in heaven is a better joy than spirits made subject on earth.
And he said to them, I beheld Satan as lightning falling out of heaven.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
Behold, I give you the power of treading upon serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall in anywise injure you.
The seventy messengers Jesus had sent out came back thrilled that demons had obeyed them. His reply turns their eyes from the demons to Satan himself, and from what the demons did to the authority He hands them. Two questions sit inside this promise: where does such authority come from, and how far does "nothing shall hurt you" reach?
The verse opens with a gift, and the giver, not the messengers, is the point of it.
The Lord said He gave the disciples authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. He was speaking of the hostility of demons. He would also protect the disciples from the harm satanic power wants to do. But this was not meant to draw attention to the messengers. It pointed to Him, the blessed Lord of glory, who gave this authority Himself.
The seventy spoke of demons; Jesus spoke of Satan. What they had seen was small, but it pointed to something settled. The writer borrows a picture from the story of Elijah, a prophet whose servant once watched a tiny cloud grow until it filled the sky.
They spoke of the demons. He spoke of Satan. "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven," He said. The demons obeying His name was the first instalment of complete victory over all the power of the enemy. At the time people did not see that. It was like the cloud the size of a man's hand, which Elijah's servant saw. But that cloud grew until it covered the whole sky. In the same way, the power of the enemy had begun to give way and would be destroyed entirely. His final defeat was certain.
The miracles were not only proof of authority in the present. They showed in advance what the world will be like when the enemy's grip is gone.
What peace it gives our souls to see Christ's power over all creation, and Satan's power all broken! In the new age this will be shown in full. The miracles the disciples worked were a sign of that energy and power of the Son of Man. The world to come will know it.
The scorpion carries a picture of its own, one that returns in the book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible.
These crowds of satanic agents cause intense anguish. It is like the torment of the scorpion's poisonous sting. The scorpion avoids the light, and people across Africa and Asia dread it with good reason. The sting is not often deadly, but the suffering is dreadful… In Luke 10:19 the Lord connects serpents, scorpions, and the power of the enemy with the fall of Satan.
The seventy had traced their success to His name. The name and the power belong together. Something is still needed on our side.
His name, when rightly borne and used, carries omnipotence with it. So when the seventy returned to the Lord, they said, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name!" The word is "in" His name, not "through" it, as some older translations read. "Yes," replied the Lord, "behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy." The mission and the power to carry it out belong together. Only one thing is needed to use that power: faith, faith in action.
What follows in verse 20 could sound like a rebuke. In fact the Lord confirms the gift while pointing them past it.
It is not that He undervalues power, or withdraws it from them. No, He rejoices in it, and confirms it in their hands, saying, "I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions." But there is something better. The children's home in heaven is more precious than the earthly power of the heirs of God.
- Source. The Lord Himself hands over the authority, and it points attention to Him, not to the messengers who use it.
- Sign. Demons yielding was the first instalment of a victory already certain — a cloud the size of a hand before the sky fills.
- Scope. "All the power of the enemy" covers the serpent's craft and the scorpion's torment; The miracles preview the age when Satan's power is broken for good.
- Condition. The mission and the power for it go together, carried in His name and used by active faith.
- Superior joy. He confirms the power and does not take it back. Yet a home in heaven outweighs any power on earth.