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.
Yet in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subjected to you, but rejoice that your names are written in the heavens.
The seventy came back thrilled that even demons had obeyed them. The Lord did not deny the wonder of it, but He moved their joy off what they had done on earth and onto what God had done about them in heaven.
Their report was true, and the Lord read more in it than they did.
They spoke of the demons. He spoke of Satan. "I saw," He said, "Satan fall like lightning from heaven." The demons' obedience to His name guaranteed complete victory over all the power of the enemy. Men did not see that yet. It was like the cloud the size of a man's hand which Elijah's servant saw. 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 wiped out completely. His final overthrow was certain.
The correction is about proportion, not about spoiling their gladness.
But the Lord showed them that their immature judgment had made them miss the true proportion of things. The endowments of grace far exceeded in value the equipment for service. Their names were written in heaven and not in the dust of the earth. Being enrolled for heavenly blessing was the right thing to rejoice in, rather than the power over unclean spirits handed to them.
Even at its best, power is not the highest joy on offer.
Power over evil is real now, and in the end it will display the full glory of God. Even so, it cannot be compared to the joy of His grace — the joy of seeing not only Satan turned out, but God brought in.
The phrase borrows a picture from everyday life.
The figure is a simple one. Our names are enrolled in the city or district where we live. The Lord said to these men, in effect: heavenly citizenship is to be yours. That is a greater cause of rejoicing than any power given on earth. Luke's Gospel gives us the change from law to grace and from earth to heaven. This verse is a clear landmark along the way.
The disciples were looking for a kingdom set up here on earth.
This was something entirely new for the disciples. They had no doubt believed in the resurrection of the dead. But they expected a portion on earth after being raised. Instead, the Lord points towards heaven. There God in His grace had written their names, to give them a portion with Christ Himself.
Notice who did the writing.
There was, however, something greater than this in which they could rejoice: their names were "written in heaven." … God had marked them out for a place in heaven. That is PREDESTINATION. God had marked them out for heavenly citizenship. It was His purpose before time began. They could not have written their names there. The names were already there — a truth never before made known to the sons of men.
The record is God's, not ours. Service cannot add to it, and failure cannot remove it.
And so it is with all true believers. Gifts, service and miracles can never touch this basic fact: they rest for themselves alone upon Christ and His work. … Paul was sure of his present and eternal security, for he knew whom he had believed. He did not rest one shred of his soul's salvation on his apostleship and ministry. As our Lord said to His disciples when they rejoiced that they could cast out demons, "rejoice that your names are written in heaven."
Scripture has another name for that record, and a reason why the entries stand.
Let us rejoice that our names are written in the "Lamb's book of life." Scripture never speaks of any name being erased from that book. The names are there because Jesus, God's Lamb, died. They will remain there to the eternal glory of God's blessed Son.
- Written by God — the seventy did not put their own names in heaven. God's purpose placed them there before time began.
- Written in grace — God's gift outweighs any power He hands out for the work.
- Written as citizens — a name on a register shows where a person belongs. Theirs says heaven, not earth.
- Written to stay — salvation rests on Christ and His work alone, not on gifts, service or miracles.
- Written, so rejoice — service can fail or mislead. The record in heaven never changes, so let joy rest there.