In the foregoing message we began to consider the second section of the earthly ministry of the Man-Savior, the section from Galilee to Jerusalem (9:51—19:27). We have seen that the Lord was rejected by the Samaritans (9:51-56). After this rejection, He instructed certain ones how to follow Him (9:57-62). This instruction was a preparation for the appointing of seventy disciples to spread His ministry, as recorded in 10:1-24.
Luke 10:17 says, “And the seventy returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” The Lord Jesus replied, “I was beholding Satan when he fell like lightning out of heaven.” At the time of his rebellion against God before the creation of man, Satan was judged and sentenced to be cast into Sheol (Hades), to the recesses, the deepest part of the pit (Isa. 14:15; Ezek. 28:17). Then God began to execute His sentence on him on different occasions in different degrees, such as through the seventy disciples in Luke 10, through Christ on the cross (Heb. 2:14; John 12:31), through the manchild and Michael before the great tribulation when he was cast down to the earth (Rev. 12:5, 7-10, 13), and through the angel before the millennium when he was cast into the abyss, the bottomless pit (Rev. 20:1-2), until finally he will be cast into the lake of fire after the millennium (Rev. 20:10) for eternity.
In 10:19 the Lord went on to say to the seventy, “Behold, I have given you the authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” What the Lord gave to the disciples was authority; what the enemy had was power. Authority subdues power. The serpents in verse 19 may signify Satan and his angels (Eph. 2:2; 6:11-12); the scorpions may signify demons (Luke 10:17, 20). The disciples subdued the evil power by the authority of the Lord.
After telling the disciples that He was beholding Satan when he fell like lightning out of heaven and after saying that He had given them authority over all the power of the enemy, the Lord said, “However, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are inscribed in the heavens” (v. 20). Certainly being saved, having our names inscribed in the heavens, is more crucial than casting out demons. Nevertheless, it is easy for believers, especially young ones, to be more excited about the casting out of demons than about having their names inscribed in the heavens. After listening to the report of the seventy, the Lord Jesus was not excited about the subduing of the demons. The Lord told the disciples that they should rejoice, exult, not that the spirits are subject to them, but that their names have been inscribed in the heavens.
When we first hear about the jubilee, we may be very excited. I noticed that after a recent message on the jubilee the saints were extremely excited. But they were not excited when I pointed out in a later message that we must be identified with Christ’s death in order to participate in the enjoyment of the jubilee. Christ had to die in order to accomplish the jubilee, and we need to die in order to participate in the jubilee. Apart from death, the jubilee cannot be our experience. We, however, do not find this kind of word very exciting.
After the Lord Jesus made the matter of the jubilee clear to the disciples. He spoke to them concerning His death. He unveiled His death the first time in Luke 9:22, and the second time in 9:44. Before unveiling His death the second time, the Lord told the disciples to “put these words” into their ears. Nevertheless, they did not understand what He was talking about. Like those disciples, we may be excited about the jubilee, but not about the Lord’s word concerning our need to die with Him in order to participate in the enjoyment of the jubilee. In 10:20 the Lord told the disciples not to rejoice over the subduing of the demons, over the fact that the spirits are subject to them. He told them to rejoice instead that their names are inscribed in the heavens.