And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.
The seventy came back to Jesus from their mission with astonishment and joy, reporting that even demons were subject to them through His name, that the sick were healed, and that His words had been spoken with His power. They had been sent ahead of Him everywhere to preach the kingdom of God, with healing the sick and casting out devils joined to proclaiming the word as the seal of their mission. Their success pointed to the breaking of Satan's power, which Jesus answered by declaring that He beheld Satan fall, so that Satan is henceforth to be regarded as a conquered foe whose defeat on the cross believers accept as their own. All evil spirits are subject to Christ, who gives His servants authority over them through His holy name to those who humble themselves in faith, for the name is not a charm to be used without faith in His divine mission. Jesus acknowledged their authority over the enemy but directed them not to make that power their chief joy, but to rejoice far more that their names are written in heaven, lest success make them self-important and unusable.
Mission Setting and Return
The return of the seventy belongs to the last journey from Galilee, together with Luke 9:51-56 and Luke 10:1-24. After sending out the twelve, Jesus sent out seventy men to go everywhere preaching the kingdom of God and the gospel of truth, with Himself to follow after in every place where they were sent. They were sent to reap a harvest already white and ready.
Their ministry joined proclaiming the word with healing the sick and casting out devils in His name. These lines of work are not to be separated. The supernatural power and endowment to drive out devils was the seal and mark of their mission.
The seventy returned to Jesus from their missionary work with astonishment and joy. They reported that even demons and evil spirits were subject to them through His name. They reported that sickness was healed, and that they had spoken His words and displayed His power. Their joy came from success in work done in faith despite hardship, fatigue, and opposition. Their success came through His authority, presence, and power with them.
Victory, Name, and Joy
The joyful report that even demons obeyed through his name pointed to the breaking of Satan's power, for Jesus saw that victory in anticipation and answered that he beheld Satan fall. That fall is linked to the decisive victory of the cross, where by giving his life for sin and declaring the work finished he ended the controversy and made heaven secure against Satan's accusations and deceptions. His death would also expose the fallacy of Satan's false religious theories. Satan is henceforth to be regarded by Christ's followers as a conquered foe, and the victory Jesus would gain on the cross was to be accepted by them as their own.
That accepted victory gives power over all the power of the enemy so that nothing shall hurt them. The omnipotent power of the Holy Spirit is the defense of every contrite soul, and no one who in penitence and faith has claimed Christ's protection will be permitted to pass under the enemy's power. All evil spirits are subject to Christ, and he gave his servants authority over them through his holy name. His name is the power of God unto salvation for those who humble themselves and become meek and lowly in heart, and all the glory of their success belongs to him.
The name is not a charm and cannot be used by those who have no faith in his divine mission. Those who despise and profane his name while trying to use it will be put to shame and defeat, and their exposure proves the sacredness of the name and the peril of invoking it without faith, causing terror and awe toward the gospel. Jesus acknowledged the real authority of the seventy over the enemy but directed them not to make that power their chief cause for joy. They should rejoice instead and find their greater and deepest joy in the fact that their names are written in heaven, not in power over evil or in healed sickness.
Their report illustrates the danger of becoming self-important after success in God's work, full of self and wise in their own conceit. That spirit hungers for praise and flattery and imagines the work cannot go on without them, which makes ministers inefficient because the Lord cannot lead, teach, or use such workers. Their power and success came from the Lord and not from themselves, so Jesus discerned the danger and called them away from the conflict to rest a while and hold communion with God. Self must be buried and hidden in Christ with Christ alone appearing, the people educated to seek the Lord, and Jesus the Man of Calvary lifted up before the people instead of praising any man, and he can do all things for the humble, trusting believer. Believers should magnify the power and love of Jesus, who cast the evil one out of heaven, rather than magnify Satan's power.
Pattern for Workers Today
A serious work lies before God's people, calling for heart, mind, soul, and strength to be enlisted in His service. That work is not to be confined to believers but is to seek acquaintance with unbelievers, placing truth before those who are living up to all the light they have, for there are precious souls to be reached. To love God with all the heart means to love those for whom He gave His only begotten Son, who died to redeem human beings from sin and has set an open door to bring others into fellowship with the saints. Christ's way of raising workers is the pattern for leaders, for after sending out the twelve He sent out seventy men to go everywhere preaching the kingdom of God and the gospel of truth, with Himself to follow after in every place where they were sent. Leaders are therefore to do the same by bringing in new men, placing them in responsibilities, and educating them to carry the work instead of depending only on experienced men.
As the seventy's mission joined preaching the gospel with healing the sick and casting out devils in His name, the Lord's messengers are likewise to unite medical missionary work with the ministry of the word. Jesus sent the seventy to preach and gave them power to heal the sick and cast out devils through His name, and their ministry joined proclaiming the Word and the kingdom of God with healing and deliverance. These lines of work are not to be separated. The return of the seventy rejoicing that evil spirits were subject to them through Jesus' name applies to the opposition Christian workers will face from people and satanic agencies. Their authority over Satan's power was real, but Jesus directed their greater joy to the fact that their names were written in heaven, and that conflict over Satan's defeat continues in the present as Satan works with great power to hinder God's work.
The verse also bears on the coming loud-cry message, in which those who began the work and held their confidence to the end would share, for Jesus saw in this victory the breaking of Satan's power in anticipation and His death would expose the fallacy of Satan's false religious theories. Jesus sent out the seventy to reap a harvest already white and ready, and Peter took up that same harvest work when three thousand souls were added.
The seventy came back to Jesus from their mission with astonishment and joy, reporting that even demons were subject to them through His name, that the sick were healed, and that His words had been spoken with His power. They had been sent ahead of Him everywhere to preach the kingdom of God, with healing the sick and casting out devils joined to proclaiming the word as the seal of their mission. Their success pointed to the breaking of Satan's power, which Jesus answered by declaring that He beheld Satan fall, so that Satan is henceforth to be regarded as a conquered foe whose defeat on the cross believers accept as their own. All evil spirits are subject to Christ, who gives His servants authority over them through His holy name to those who humble themselves in faith, for the name is not a charm to be used without faith in His divine mission. Jesus acknowledged their authority over the enemy but directed them not to make that power their chief joy, but to rejoice far more that their names are written in heaven, lest success make them self-important and unusable.
Mission Setting and Return
The return of the seventy belongs to the last journey from Galilee, together with Luke 9:51-56 and Luke 10:1-24. After sending out the twelve, Jesus sent out seventy men to go everywhere preaching the kingdom of God and the gospel of truth, with Himself to follow after in every place where they were sent. They were sent to reap a harvest already white and ready.
Their ministry joined proclaiming the word with healing the sick and casting out devils in His name. These lines of work are not to be separated. The supernatural power and endowment to drive out devils was the seal and mark of their mission.
The seventy returned to Jesus from their missionary work with astonishment and joy. They reported that even demons and evil spirits were subject to them through His name. They reported that sickness was healed, and that they had spoken His words and displayed His power. Their joy came from success in work done in faith despite hardship, fatigue, and opposition. Their success came through His authority, presence, and power with them.
Victory, Name, and Joy
The joyful report that even demons obeyed through his name pointed to the breaking of Satan's power, for Jesus saw that victory in anticipation and answered that he beheld Satan fall. That fall is linked to the decisive victory of the cross, where by giving his life for sin and declaring the work finished he ended the controversy and made heaven secure against Satan's accusations and deceptions. His death would also expose the fallacy of Satan's false religious theories. Satan is henceforth to be regarded by Christ's followers as a conquered foe, and the victory Jesus would gain on the cross was to be accepted by them as their own.
That accepted victory gives power over all the power of the enemy so that nothing shall hurt them. The omnipotent power of the Holy Spirit is the defense of every contrite soul, and no one who in penitence and faith has claimed Christ's protection will be permitted to pass under the enemy's power. All evil spirits are subject to Christ, and he gave his servants authority over them through his holy name. His name is the power of God unto salvation for those who humble themselves and become meek and lowly in heart, and all the glory of their success belongs to him.
The name is not a charm and cannot be used by those who have no faith in his divine mission. Those who despise and profane his name while trying to use it will be put to shame and defeat, and their exposure proves the sacredness of the name and the peril of invoking it without faith, causing terror and awe toward the gospel. Jesus acknowledged the real authority of the seventy over the enemy but directed them not to make that power their chief cause for joy. They should rejoice instead and find their greater and deepest joy in the fact that their names are written in heaven, not in power over evil or in healed sickness.
Their report illustrates the danger of becoming self-important after success in God's work, full of self and wise in their own conceit. That spirit hungers for praise and flattery and imagines the work cannot go on without them, which makes ministers inefficient because the Lord cannot lead, teach, or use such workers. Their power and success came from the Lord and not from themselves, so Jesus discerned the danger and called them away from the conflict to rest a while and hold communion with God. Self must be buried and hidden in Christ with Christ alone appearing, the people educated to seek the Lord, and Jesus the Man of Calvary lifted up before the people instead of praising any man, and he can do all things for the humble, trusting believer. Believers should magnify the power and love of Jesus, who cast the evil one out of heaven, rather than magnify Satan's power.
Pattern for Workers Today
A serious work lies before God's people, calling for heart, mind, soul, and strength to be enlisted in His service. That work is not to be confined to believers but is to seek acquaintance with unbelievers, placing truth before those who are living up to all the light they have, for there are precious souls to be reached. To love God with all the heart means to love those for whom He gave His only begotten Son, who died to redeem human beings from sin and has set an open door to bring others into fellowship with the saints. Christ's way of raising workers is the pattern for leaders, for after sending out the twelve He sent out seventy men to go everywhere preaching the kingdom of God and the gospel of truth, with Himself to follow after in every place where they were sent. Leaders are therefore to do the same by bringing in new men, placing them in responsibilities, and educating them to carry the work instead of depending only on experienced men.
As the seventy's mission joined preaching the gospel with healing the sick and casting out devils in His name, the Lord's messengers are likewise to unite medical missionary work with the ministry of the word. Jesus sent the seventy to preach and gave them power to heal the sick and cast out devils through His name, and their ministry joined proclaiming the Word and the kingdom of God with healing and deliverance. These lines of work are not to be separated. The return of the seventy rejoicing that evil spirits were subject to them through Jesus' name applies to the opposition Christian workers will face from people and satanic agencies. Their authority over Satan's power was real, but Jesus directed their greater joy to the fact that their names were written in heaven, and that conflict over Satan's defeat continues in the present as Satan works with great power to hinder God's work.
The verse also bears on the coming loud-cry message, in which those who began the work and held their confidence to the end would share, for Jesus saw in this victory the breaking of Satan's power in anticipation and His death would expose the fallacy of Satan's false religious theories. Jesus sent out the seventy to reap a harvest already white and ready, and Peter took up that same harvest work when three thousand souls were added.