Luke 10:17-20

Luke 10:17-20

And the seventy returned with joy while saying, “Even the demons are being placed in subjection to us in your name!”  And He said to them, “I was seeing Satan fall as lightening out of heaven.  Behold!  I have given you the authority to tread over serpents and scorpions and upon every power of the enemy.   And nothing will surely do wrong to you.  Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this: that the spirits are being placed in subjection to you all.  Rejoice that your name has been written in heaven.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

The large group of disciples return to Jesus having been sent out by Him.  They come back with joy.  Let’s face it, it feels good to be successful.  There is joy in success.  However, the disciples also come back in a bit of amazement.  We can hear it in their words.  They were successful at something that they thought impossible.  They are seeing evidence of their change in status as they grow closer to the Father.  This also brings about joy – as it should.

Where are you successful in the kingdom of heaven?  Where are you seeing evidence of your changing and deepening relationship with the Lord?

Second Thought:

In response to the disciples, Jesus gives us an often quoted and extremely obscure passage.  “I saw Satan fall from heaven as lightening.”  It is hard to tell exactly what Jesus is getting at in this as He doesn’t offer any further explanation.  But I think we can safely get at least two messages.  First, we can know that Jesus is eternal, since He was there to see it happen.  Second, we can learn that Satan did indeed fall from grace.  This means that those who are still in grace – included those of us in creation who have been redeemed back into grace – are in better standing with the Father of creation.  This gives us the reason that demons are subject to us in the name of Christ.  Because of our status with the Father in Christ, we have better status than Satan and His powers.

How often do you think of your status with God?  Why is this important to consider?

Third Thought:

Immediately Jesus gives His disciples a warning.  As soon as we talk about status, we must also warn against pride.  Human beings like power.  We love to be in control.  We like being the top dog – or at least in the top half of the pack.  We like to be right.  We enjoy having other people obey us far more than we enjoying having to obey others.  So Jesus warns us.  Do not rejoice that others are subject to you!  Rejoice that your name is in heaven.  In other words: stay humble!  Our status with God is a free gift of grace, not something we earned!  We only have status with the Father because He loves us.  We should rejoice in His love, not our power.

How much do you like power?  What has God done in your life to demonstrate that you have access to His power?  What has God done in your life to help humble you in the power that He has given to you?

Passage for Tomorrow: Luke 10:21-24