I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning

The seventy returned with joy, saying, ‘Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!’ He said to them, ‘I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.’

At that same hour Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, ‘I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over 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 anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.’

Then turning to the disciples, Jesus said to them privately, ‘Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.’

- Luke 10:17-24

The Seventy return from their first mission, and they are thrilled to tell the news of all that has happened. They have received a spiritual power for healing - but to them it is a revelation that Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us! This is a sharing of spiritual power from the Lord to his missionaries. We are in a kingdom where the realities of spiritual relationship confer a sharing of spiritual power and even authority, the blessings of spiritual gifts. To act in the name of Christ is to act in his authority, sharing, in a sense, in his personhood.

Jesus rejoices that human beings now truly share the kingdom; the power of the enemy, the one who defied God, is defeated: I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. He adds to his disciples: See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you. It is my opinion that the words "snakes" and "scorpions" are images of demons and demonic activity, and the poison and hurt they bring to human beings - and not meant to be taken literally. But Jesus also puts their work and these gifts of power into perspective: Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven. The great gift is really to be a part of this kingdom, to participate in its reality. Finally, Jesus himself rejoices "in the Holy Spirit" - in the sharing of such knowledge and power and spiritual gifts, that they have been given to those not of extensive intellectual preparation or knowledge, but to those who have simply received the kingdom. This is the radical equality of the kingdom and its sharing, and our ability to participate in it. It is yet another illustration of its logic - the will of the Father in this is something in which Jesus rejoices. His will is for all to be included in this possibility of sharing, and so it is. All things have been handed over 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 anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. This reality is conferred through relationship, through spiritual connection and in the true "energy" of that kingdom, and not by study or striving or intellectual preparation. There must be a reality of relationship, of spiritual experience - and this is open to all but only to those who will receive in that choice for revelation.

‘Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.’ Jesus rejoices in this revelation of the working of the kingdom in the world. Do we understand the nature of the gift? Do we appreciate this reality given by the will of the Father as Jesus does? What does spiritual reality mean to you?