Luke 10:1-24

Butler's Comments

SECTION 1

Preaching the Kingdom (Luke 10:1-24)

10 After this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to come. 2And he said to them, The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. 3Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. 4Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and salute no one on the road. 5Whatever house you enter, first say, -Peace be to this house!-' 6And if a son of peace is there, your peace shall rest upon him; but if not, it shall return to you. 7And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages; do not go from house to house. 8Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you; 9heal the sick in it and say to them, -The kingdom of God has come near to you.-' 10But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, 11-'Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off against you; nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.-' 12I tell you, it shall be more tolerable on that day for Sodom than for that town.

13 Woe to you, Chorazin! woe to you, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14But it shall be more tolerable in the judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 15And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades.

16 He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects him who sent me.
17 The seventy returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name! 18And he said to them, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall hurt you. 20Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you; but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.

21 In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes; yea, Father, for such was thy gracious will. 22All things have been delivered to me by my Father; and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

23 Then turning to the disciples he said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see what you see! 24For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

Luke 10:1-20 Repentance: Jesus had followers other than the Twelve who were fully capable of evangelizing or preaching the kingdom of God. This text documents an evangelistic campaign involving seventy others. It is not to be confused with the campaign in Galilee (recorded in Matthew 10:1-42, Mark 6:1-13 and Luke 9:1-9). The campaign in Galilee preceded the Feast of Tabernacles (see notes in Luke 9:51-59). The preaching tour of the seventy followed Tabernacles and was in Judea. Jesus-' attendance at the Feast of Tabernacles is recorded only by John's Gospel (ch. Luke 7:1 to Luke 10:21). The Feast of Tabernacles is to be inserted, chronologically, between Luke 9:62 and Luke 10:1.

The fact that Jesus should conduct two evangelistic campaigns prescribing the same methods in practically the same words should not be confusing. It is certainly no basis for claiming that Luke copied from Matthew. They are different incidents, involving different people, at different times, and geographically in different locales.

For notes on Jesus-' methodology in evangelism study comments on the tour of the Twelve, Luke 9:1-9. We will not make comments here since His instructions in both cases are practically the same. The one striking difference between the two tours is that in Galilee Jesus told the Twelve to go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans. (Matthew 10:5). He would not have to give that instruction in Judea since there were not many Gentiles living there.

Almost a year prior to this time the Lord had pronounced divine condemnation upon three cities in Galilee: Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum. That was about the middle of His second year of public ministry, (see Matthew 11:20-24). Now, about the middle of the third year, He repeats the judgment. It is first, a warning to the seventy that as He was scorned and rejected by these cities in Galilee, they would probably suffer the same treatment in Judea. It was second, an encouragement that Christ was aware of all hypocrisy and unbelief and God's judgment would ultimately vindicate their faithfulness in the face of rejection. We will make extensive comments on the condemnation of the three cities because there are very important lessons to be learned.

Chorazin was about 2 miles north of Capernaum. It was probably an important city being at the northern most end of the land of Palestine of the first century. Trade routes and military garrisons were probably there. It ceased to be inhabited by the time of Eusebius (250 A.D.). Only a few of its carved stones remain today. Bethsaida (Julius) was east of the Jordan, near the river's entry into the Sea of Galilee. The tetrarch Philip raised it to the rank of city and called it Julius in honor of the daughter of Augustus Caesar, Julia. Some think there was another Bethsaidaa suburb of Capernaum. Whatever the case, neither can be found today except for a few ruins of a Roman road. It was apparently a place of great activity in the fishing business; the word Bethsaida means, house of fishing. Capernaum was a customs station, the residence of a high officer of the tetrarch of Galilee (Herod) (see Matthew 9:9; John 4:46) and was occupied by a detachment of Roman soldiers whose commander built the Jews a synagogue at his own expense. By the time of Josephus (50 years after Jesus) Capernaum was of such small significance, Josephus called it a village. These cities apparently exalted themselves and considered themselves too sophisticated, wise and well-off to need the likes of the itinerant rabbi from Nazareth to tell them what to do. They flocked after Him for miracles of healing, but scorned His message of repentance.

Jesus had walked the streets of these cities, especially Capernaum, and so did His apostles. He had his home in Capernaum. There he had healed a nobleman's son, a man let down through a roof, given the apostles a miraculous catch of fish, healed many of all kinds of diseases, cast out demons, healed Peter's mother-in-law, and, when the whole city came to Him at His door, he healed many more people. Finally, He healed the centurion's servant. Later in His ministry He healed Jairus-' daughter at Capernaum, the woman with the flow of blood, two blind men, and a dumb demoniac.

Some of the Lord's greatest sermons were delivered in this immediate area. The Sermon on the Mount could have been close enough that many citizens of these cities attended. His sermon on the Bread of Life was in a synagogue in Capernaum; His sermon on human traditions was in Capernaum, as well as His sermon on childlikeness (Matthew 18:1-35).

Jesus condemned more often than most people like to admit. Most people want to think of Jesus as always positive, always encouraging, always forgiving, never condemning, and even indulging those who do not agree with Him. But check these scriptures: Matthew 7:21-23; Matthew 23:1 ff.; Matthew 12:22-42; John 3:36; John 8:42-47; John 9:35-41; John 12:31. Practically every parable Jesus told ended with a condemnation or warning. The letters of the apostles in the New Testament contain much condemnation. Paul's instruction for fulling the ministry is to reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering.

God cannot be reduced to a vacillating, flaccid, spineless compromiser. If God doesn-'t condemn unbelief and unrighteousness, He cannot praise and reward faith and holiness. If He does not hate and judge evil, He cannot love and preserve truth and goodness. That goes for God's Son, for God's propositional word, the Bible, and for the messengers and preachers of His word. The Jews of the prophet's days would not accept this. They refused to believe that God would condemn their paganism and unbelief. They wanted Him to condemn and destroy their enemies, but to indulge them in their unbelief (see Jeremiah 5:12; Jeremiah 23:17). We cannot afford such ignorance of God's real nature. J.B. Phillips in his book, Your God Is Too Small, says some people's concept of the meek and mild Jesus makes their God to small. Of all the ideas about Jesus, he says, this one that Jesus never spoke a harsh word or never condemned wrong is the least appropriate. It pictures Jesus as someone afraid to take a stand or give His hand against evil. A god that compromises truth in the face of falsehood or surrenders to injustice without challenging and condemning it, is a god too small. He would be, in fact, a cruel god. Indifference to evil is more insidious than evil itself. The Son of God was not indifferent to impenitence and unbelief. He condemned it in order to bring about repentance. In anger and condemnation against evil lies true compassion.

Jesus-' condemnation of these three cities is a result of their misappropriation of opportunities and privilegesthe most evil form of unbelief. He never condemned anyone for failing to use an opportunity they never had. He never condemned anyone for using an opportunity and falling short, if they recognized their shortcomings and asked for forgiveness. But He certainly had His severest judgment upon those who had opportunities and privileges and deliberately chose not to use them! These three cities had opportunity after opportunity to put His word to practice in their lives. They saw Him in action time after time. His word was validated as supernatural, powerful, and life-giving by the many miracles He wrought among them. They had clear, understandable, motivating sermons, one after another. They had a multitude of opportunities that Sodom, Tyre, and Sidon never had, and still they did not repent. These Jews to whom Jesus preached considered the Sodomites, Tyrainians and Sidonians incorrigible, worthless and unsavable. But Jesus knew that if they had had the opportunities afforded Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum, they would have repented! To whom soever much is given, of him shall much be required (Luke 12:48). Daniel Webster, scholar, statesman, Bible-believer was once asked, What is the most sobering, searching thought that ever entered your mind? Without a moment's hesitation, the great orator and educator replied, My personal accountability to God!

The seventy returned from their evangelistic tour of the cities and villages of Judea bubbling with excitement, feeling they had been especially blessed (Gr. charas, graced) because the demons obeyed them in the name of Jesus. Jesus said He saw in this the forecast of Satan's defeat by the coming of the kingdom of God which they had been preaching. What appears as Satan's power to thwart the purpose of God for man is about to be defeated. Satan's assault on the heavenly sovereignty of God is about to be repulsed (Revelation 12:1-17) and the devil will be cast down. The devil's power, the fear of death (Hebrews 2:14-15), is about to be destroyed and he will be bound when Jesus makes atonement for man's sin and conquers death in His resurrection. All this is foreshadowed by Jesus-' power over demons.

Jesus-' authority to the seventy to tread upon serpents. and that nothing should hurt them, was never intended for all believers of all ages any more than His power to cast out demons and raise the dead given the Twelve was. If He had intended His power to the seventy to be perpetuated why aren-'t these seventy still alive? He gave them authority over all the power of the enemy; they could have kept themselves alive forever. The apostles had the power to raise the deadwhy didn-'t they raise themselves from the dead? Clearly, miraculous power granted from Christ to certain people was intended to have a cessation. Miraculous power serves only one purposeto validate the message to be from God. Once that purpose is sufficiently served, miracles are no longer needed. Miracles do not produce salvation or holinessthe message confirmed by the miracles does.

This is exactly the Lord's point in cooling the enthusiasm of the seventy. Their salvation is by the grace of God, not in their working of miracles. Some miracle-workers will be lost (Matthew 7:21-23)! Nothing man does earns him salvationnot even working miracles. Our salvation was earned by The Perfect Man (Hebrews 2:5-18) and offered to us through His grace. We have access into that grace by faith (Romans 5:2), obedient faith (Romans 6:1-23). Our faith is expressed by accepting God's salvation, obeying the terms of His New Covenant (being immersed in water for the forgiveness of our sins, Acts 2:38; Acts 22:16, etc.). What we must understand clearly is that although outward acts of piety should be the natural expressions of a heart and mind humbly surrendered to the Lord's will, they do not guarantee it (Matthew 6:1 ff.). The Corinthian church, although it came behind no church in miraculous gifts, was one of the most carnal-minded churches of the first century! Jesus told the seventy that their enthusiasm was focused on the wrong aspect of their discipleship. Let them not rejoice in their power over demons; that was none of their doing and not by their choice, but by Christ'S. They may rejoice, however, that by their choice to trust Christ God has graciously written their names in heaven. It is through choosing the will of Christ for our lives that we are saved, not by the exercise of relative amounts of piety. The essence of the kingdom of God is repentance. When Jesus sent the seventy to preach the kingdom of God, they were preaching that people should repent. They did not need to try to get people to be more religiousto go through more rituals, and add more temple services to their lives. Repentance means to accept the mind of Godto believe what God says about His kingdom instead of what men think it should be. Before man can accept what God says, God must say what He wants man to accept. God must reveal His will, and man must recognize and receive it in precisely the way which God chooses to reveal it. That leads into Jesus-' next admonition to the seventy.

Luke 10:21-24 Revelation: God reveals His will in order to save man by correcting man's mind-set. Mind-set equals allegiance. Perspective determines values. Through Jesus Christ God has distinguished between the temporal and the eternal from a divine and infallible perspective. If man recognizes and receives Jesus-' divine perspective he is able to focus his mind on truest and highest values. Thus man is saved from eternal deception and lostness. Without fully trusting in the divine perspective, man is left to be condemned to the human perspective. The human perspective cannot go beyond the human experience which is separated from the divine goal of the Creator for His creatures by an unbridgeable gulf of supernaturalism. Jesus pauses here, reminded by the impenitence of these cities, to thank the Father that that unbridgeable gulf is bridged by the revelation of the Father in the Son. He had failed to win over those cities in which He had done mighty works, and yet He gives thanks! He uses the Greek word exomologoumai which means, literally, I acknowledge what has happened and give you praise for it. Jesus acknowledges that the refusal of these proud and arrogant cities to accept His humble cross-bearing discipleship is evidence that God's plan for saving the teachable was working. The way of the cross is spurned by the worldly-minded (1 Corinthians 1:17-31). But that simply proves that the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom. So Jesus praises the Father. It is the Father's gracious will that only those who are childlike will accept His Son and His salvation. Jesus just finished teaching (Matthew 18:1-35; Luke 9:1-62) that the unequivocal condition of kingdom citizenship is childlikeness. The tendency of faithless man in a situation where large masses reject the truth is to get discouraged, begin to doubt the power of the word of God, start to compromise by omitting part of the gospel message or by using unethical, shallow and pagan methods to manipulate people. The messenger of God who does his best, who is faithful to preach the whole counsel of God, and who still sees little visible result should rejoice, like Jesus, acknowledging it is evidence that God's plan for saving the teachable is working. Temporary setbacks, however heartbreaking, cannot defeat God. Rejoice that God is interested in quality as well as quantity.

The issue of revelation is crucial. It is the fundamental issue. What men are willing to have told to them by God is imperativeas opposed to what men think they already know and refuse to let God tell them. If men believe they already know all there is to know that is significant about life here and hereafter, then they will reject the Book that claims to be a revelation from God. When revelation is rejected, regeneration is impossible. Only God has the authority and power to re-create humanity. Regeneration is not determined by what men think or how men feel, but whether men believe and obey God's revelation or not! The people in the area of these three cities wanted Jesus to heal them and make their bodies feel goodto feed them and make their stomachs feel goodto entertain them with miracles and charge up their emotions, but they did not want to surrender their minds and wills to His teachings, or accept His vicarious death for their sins.

Whatever God wanted man to know for the here and the hereafter, He chose to reveal finally and fully, once and for all, in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Way, the Truth and Lifeno one comes to the Father but by Him (John 14:6). Whoever does not honor the Son, does not honor the Father (John 5:23). God does not fully and completely reveal Himself or His salvation in any other Person or religion, As a matter of fact, there is absolutely no access to the Father except through Jesus, God will not honor, recognize or accept any effort to repent toward Him except through Jesus (Hebrews 5:11 -Hebrews 6:8). Now that Christ has come, even an attempt to please God through Judaism is an abomination to God-He calls it apostasy (Hebrews 6:6). Jesus is exclusive and inclusive in revealing God. Everything outside Jesus does not reveal God; everything in Jesus does reveal Him. In Jesus dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily (Colossians 2:9).

To whom does Jesus choose to reveal the Father? To all who are childlike! To whomsoever will come to Him, He will reveal the Father. He will not coerce, force or manipulate men. Men must be left free to make their own choices. Jesus allowed these cities to choose, even against His divine wisdom and supernatural power. He did not force them to accept Him. The realistic picture of the Bible is that many are called but few are chosen. The majority of humanity will not be saved, because they do not choose to be saved. Even the Son of God apparently failed where He did his most extensive works. But, in the end, it is not miracles or evidence of miracles which saves manit is man's choice to surrender to the will of Him of whom the miracles testify, He is God. The success of Jesus-' ministry was measured by the Father's standardsnot by men's standards. Jesus was anything but beaten and defeated. He did not cry out in ego-deflation; His image did not suffer; He did not quit the ministry because of Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum. Jesus was realistic, acknowledging that the gospel of God will only be accepted by the childlike. Jesus taught others to count the costHe knew how to count the cost too!

Jesus was aware of the magnitude of His mission and ministry. He wanted the Twelve and the seventy to be aware of it also in order that they might experience a blessing in the face of rejections and persecutions to come. The coming of the kingdom of God and the coming of God's King was what many prophets and kings of history longed to see (cf. 1 Peter 1:10-12). Those disciples who were privileged to join the Son of God in His earthly visit and those who have joined Him in His return in the Spirit should praise God for their blessing.

Applebury's Comments

The Mission of the Seventy
Scripture

Luke 10:1-24 Now after these things the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself was about to come. 2 And he said unto them, The harvest indeed is plenteous, but the laborers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he send forth laborers into his harvest. 3 Go your ways; behold, I send you forth as lambs in the midst of wolves. 4 Carry no purse, no wallet, no shoes; and salute no man on the way. 5 And into whatsoever house ye shall enter, first say, Peace be to this house. 6 And if a son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon him: but if not, it shall turn to you again. 7 And in that same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give: for the laborer is worthy of his hire. Go not from house to house, 8 And into whatsover city ye enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you: 9 and heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you. 10 But into whatsoever city ye shall enter, and they receive you not, go out into the streets thereof and say, 11 Even the dust from your city, that cleaveth to our feet, we wipe off against you: nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh. 12 I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable in that day for Sodom, than for that city. 13 Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which were done in you, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 But it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the judgment, than for you. 15 And thou, Capernaum, shalt thou be exalted unto heaven? thou shalt be brought down unto Hades. 16 He that heareth you heareth me; and he that rejecteth you rejecteth me; and he that rejecteth me rejecteth him that sent me.

17 And the seventy returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are subject unto us in thy name. 18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan fallen as lightning from heaven. 19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall in any wise hurt you. 20 Nevertheless in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.
21 In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou didst hide these things from the wise and understanding, and didst reveal them unto babes: yea, Father; for so it was well-pleasing in thy sight. 22 All things have been delivered unto me of my Father: and no one knoweth who the Son is, save the Father; and who the Father is, save the Son, and he to whomsover the Son willeth to reveal him. 23 And turning to the disciples, he said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see: 24 for I say unto you, that many prophets and kings desired to see the things which ye see, and saw them not; and to hear the things which ye hear, and heard them not.

Comments

the Lord appointed seventy others.It was impossible for Jesus to accomplish everything alone. He was able to reach more people, however, by effective organization and distribution of responsibility first to the twelve and then to the seventy (or seventy-two according to some texts). The seventy were selected, equipped for their mission, carefully instructed, and sent out two by two to do the work for which Christ commissioned them.

The value of organization had been demonstrated in Moses-' day. At one time he attempted to care for all the problems of the nation of Israel, but Jethro wisely pointed out that it was too much for him. He advised Moses to appoint rulers over the people who were to be divided into groups of thousands, hundreds, and tens (Exodus 18:13-27).

When the twelve apostles attempted to carry the total burden of the church in Jerusalem, they soon found out that some of the people were being neglected. So they had the congregation select seven men whom they appointed to care for the distribution of food to the widows who were dependent on the church for support (Acts 6:1-6). The apostles gave themselves to the task of preaching the Word. Later, they appointed elders in all the churches (Acts 14:23). And for a list of other workers see 1 Corinthians 12:28; Ephesians 4:11-13.

Jesus maintained control over both the twelve and the seventy, for they were under the immediate direction of the Holy Spirit. He maintains His authority over His church today through the direction given to it in the New Testament (Matthew 28:18-20).

The harvest is plenteous.Then as now, the harvest was great, but the laborers few. Crowds were following Jesus; why didn-'t He send all of them? The story of the rejected volunteers suggests that all did not have the required dedication for the task (Luke 9:57-61).

Workers should be carefully selected for the specialized tasks in the kingdom today. A call for volunteers is often answered by unqualified people. Often those who could be trained to do the work do not feel worthy to volunteer. The responsible leaders of the churchministers, evangelists, elders, deacons and othersshould constantly watch for those who are capable of being trained for the tasks necessary for the progress of the gospel. It should be the goal to have every member engaged in the work of the Lord. Some may not be qualified to teach, but the importance of their serving in other ways should not be overlooked.

pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest.The task was to be done under the direction of the Lord of the harvest. He sent them forth.

Go your ways.Too often people are told to go, but given no instruction as to ways to proceed or message to proclaim. Such generalized efforts accomplish little for the work of Christ. Many, no doubt, would go if they were told how and where and what to do.

lambs in the midst of wolves.They were to go to their Jewish brethren, the lost sheep of the house of Israel. They could expect the hospitality normally accorded teachers in that day. But some would not accept them; they were to be on guard against such. See Luke 22:35-38 for Jesus instruction to the twelve when He sent them into all the world to preach the gospel.

Salute no man on the way.Instructions for the Seventy were about the same as for the Twelve when they were sent out on their first mission. They were on urgent business for the King. They were not to lose time by visiting along the way. They would find it difficult to get their task done before Jesus came to them, for He was moving toward the climax of His ministry which was the cross and the ascension.

When they did enter some home, they were to say, Peace be to this house. If a son of peace was there, a peace loving person, their blessing was to remain with him. But if he was not one characterized by peace, the blessing would return to the one who tried and failed to share the message of peace with him.

such things as they give.The Seventy were not to move from house to house, for it would be time consuming and it would accomplish little. They were to become one of the family that gave them a place to stay and eat what was set before them. Just what was involved in the reference to diet may not be clear. Was it a matter of clean and unclean foods? Jews made much of this issue. Paul gave similar instruction to the Christians at Corinth about eating what was set before them (1 Corinthians 10:23-30). Jesus told the Seventy to eat what the family did, for it was one of the best ways of becoming identified with people whom they were to help with the gospel of the kingdom of God.

the laborer is worthy of his hire.See also Matthew 10:10; 1 Timothy 5:18; and 1 Corinthians 9:14. See Studies In First Corinthians, pages 159-163 on Paul's argument for the support of the ministry.

and they receive you not.The Seventy were forewarned that not all would accept their message. The Lord Himself was rejected by many and crucified by the very people He tried to help. His workers can expect to be rejected by some, but there are those who will gladly accept the message of salvation. Timothy was to face hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ, but there would be victories for his encouragement in the service of the Lord also.

If the Seventy met with rejection, they were to shake the dust from their feet and move to others who might respond to God's message.

It shall be more tolerable in that day.Sodom fell under the terrible judgment of God because of its wickedness, but the city that rejected the messengers of Jesus was to fare worse in the Day of Judgment than Sodom. Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum were warned about the fate that was awaiting them. If the mighty works of Jesus had been done in those other cities which had long since perished, they would have repented. But Capernaum which was the center of Jesus-' whole Galilean ministry, would it be exalted to heaven? Jesus addressed the city and said, You shall be brought down unto Hades. The ruins that mark the places where those proud but sinful cities once stood give silent testimony to the truth of Jesus-' prophecy concerning them.

The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.This message was to be given both to those who received Jesus-' messengers and to those who rejected them. To those who received the message of Christ, the kingdom came with blessing; to those who rejected, it came in judgment.

Jesus identified Himself with His messengers. To reject them was to reject Him; to reject Him was to reject the Father who sent Him. The kingdom of God came near with blessings for those who were willing to receive them, but judgments for those who refused God's rule in their lives.

I saw Satan fallen as lightening from heaven.The Seventy reported to Jesus that the demons were subject to them in His name. The response of Jesus is rendered differently in the various versions. The King James reads, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. This suggests that Jesus saw Satan fall from heaven. The American Standard puts it this way, I beheld Satan fallen as lightning from heaven. This suggests that Jesus said that He saw Satan after he had fallen. R. S. V. reads, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Jesus was observing when Satan fell, and his fall was like lightning from heaven. It was sudden, swift, and positive.

To what does this fall refer? Some, basing their views on Isaiah 14:12 and Revelation 12:7-12, suggest that it was when Satan literally fell from his original state. But the Isaiah passage, according to Isaiah 14:4, refers to the king of Babylon. The passage in Revelation shows that Satan was defeated before he began his attack on God's people on earth. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony and by the fact that they loved not their lives even unto death. Others suggest that it was the defeat of Satan in the wilderness temptation of Our Lord. That was a signal victory for the Son of Man who was tempted in all points as we are but without sin (Hebrews 4:15). But Jesus related this fall of Satan to the victory of the Seventy. They had just told Him that the demons were subject to them in His name; but He was aware of it before they told Him, for He was observing the battle as Satan fell before the power of the Lord's army.

he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit.that is, He spoke these words of rejoicing and thanksgiving by the Holy Spirit. Luke also says that the words of the command given by Jesus to His apostles were spoken through the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:2; Matthew 28:18-20).

The Seventy had cast out demons by the power of the Holy Spirit. They were not to rejoice that demons were subject to them, but that their names were written in heaven. All this was the occasion for Jesus-' rejoicing.

I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth.Jesus usually addressed God as Father in His prayers. This is the longest recorded statement of address used by Him.

The Seventy were ordinary people, yet it pleased the Father to reveal the things of the Kingdom to them. They in turn told others about the kingdom of God. But those who were satisfied in their own wisdom did not welcome this revelation from God.

no one knoweth who the Son is.At the baptism of Jesus, the Father had said, This is my Son. The way to know the Father is to know His Son. When the disciples asked Jesus to show them the Father, He replied, If you had recognized me, you would have known the Father (John 14:7-11). This explains the statement of John 1:18, No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared Himthat is, He has unfolded the story of the Father. That story is given in the Gospel of John. John 20:30-31 is the conclusion of the story, but John 1:18 is the statement of its purpose.

Blessed are the eyes which see the things that you see.Just before Jesus explained the Parable of the Sower, He said to the disciples, Blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear (Matthew 13:16). Many prophets and righteous men had desired to see and hear these things about Jesus. Those who had the privilege of hearing Him were to be congratulated. Peter wrote that the prophets and even the angels had desired to look into these things (1 Peter 1:10-12). The Old Testament message pointed to the coming of the Messiah. The disciples of Jesus were in the presence of the One about whom the prophets had spoken. The hope of Christians, based on the testimony about His life, death and resurrection, is in His coming again (Philippians 3:20-21; Hebrews 9:27; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).