Luke 10:17-20--The Return of the Seventy-Two

Luke 10:17-20
English Standard Version
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The Return of the Seventy-Two
17 The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” 18 And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. 20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

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Those that Jesus sent out with power and authority return to Him after some time--note that it seems that Jesus already knew which towns were going to reject them and reject Him before they even returned.  How amazing is that?

The disciples that were sent out have all kinds of stories to tell as they want to talk about how they were even able to cast out demons in the name of Jesus, which we've seen they had some issues with the demons listening to them in the past.  Jesus responds by telling them that that He saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.  Probably Jesus is talking about when Satan rebelled and was thrown out of heaven and took one-third of the angels with him who became what we know as demons.  Of course Satan and the demons submit to Jesus' name and His authority because He's their creator and has the authority not just to throw them out of heaven, but to throw them into the lake of fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels.

Jesus then turns back to those He sent out and tells them that He has given them authority so that they can tread on scorpions and not be injured and that they will have all authority over the enemy and nothing will harm them.  This is not to say that they should be proud, but I think the context here is that God is going to keep them safe on their journey as ambassadors of the King and His kingdom.  There will be a time and place for each of them to die, but that would come in God's time, and until that time, nothing would be able to hurt them if they were staying obedient to God's commands--nothing of this world nor of the spiritual world.  All power and authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Jesus and He sends us out in that power and authority to be His witnesses (the Greek word there is martyrs).

Jesus warns them not to rejoice that the demons are subject to them, but they are to rejoice that their names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life in heaven and that their salvation is secure.  For this is no other name under heaven by which men must be saved.  Are some of these men the same ones that would say "Lord, Lord" to Jesus in Matthew 7 and He would respond by saying, "I never knew you" because their names were not written in the Lamb's Book of Life?  Possibly, though we have little idea who these 72 are outside of perhaps the 12 Apostles, and Judas Iscariot may be among them, though we know that Luke has already identified Judas as a traitor and a devil that is among them.