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Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name." And He said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven."
In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight. All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him."
Then He turned to His disciples and said privately, "Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see; for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it."
- Luke 10:17-24
Yesterday, we read that Jesus appointed seventy other apostles also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go. Then He said to them, "The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves. Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals; and greet no one along the road. But whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace to this house.' And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it; if not, it will return to you. And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not go from house to house. Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you. And heal the sick there, and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.' But whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, 'The very dust of your city which clings to us we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near you.' But I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for that city. "Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades. He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me." Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name."
Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name." And He said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven." My study bible tells us that "I saw Satan fall" describes an event that took place before the creation of the world. It says that five times Satan set his will against God (Isaiah 14:12-15; see also Revelation 12:7-12). To trample on serpents and scorpions is a figurative allusion to devils and demons. But the greatest gift of all is to be part of the kingdom of heaven, of service to the gospel of the kingdom.
In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight. All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him." My study bible tells us that "babes" here, as referred to by Jesus, are people of simple faith and open hearts (see Luke 18:15-17). There is a command here in revelation, in the things given or revealed to people; those here referred to as babes are the open-minded, the ones who can receive, to whom the Son has chosen to reveal the Father.
Then He turned to His disciples and said privately, "Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see; for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it." Jesus emphasizes not only the astonishing nature of the revelations given to these men, but also how precious they are.
I wonder, sometimes, if we can understand just how precious this gift is that we are given. It is the gift and blessing of the kingdom, the capacity to participate in the kingdom of heaven, to have the Father revealed to us through the Son. Here, Jesus emphasizes the unique and precious, priceless quality of this gift of revelation -- this blessing given to these "babes," little children without formal learning and education. It seems that we take so much for granted, that so much that has been revealed as reported in the Gospels has become not only the things we know and count on, the familiar, but even the sadly discarded and unvalued. It's a strange thing to consider Jesus' words in the Gospels, this great and powerful revelation of the kingdom, and the obviously exalted value placed upon our capacity to enter into the kingdom by Jesus, and to share in its mysteries -- and at the same time to think that somehow in today's world there is so much that just slips by us, all too familiar, or perhaps even discarded and unknown to so many. It's tempting to take so much for granted. The world offers so much, there is so much distraction, entertainment, shocking daily news, free invitation to be involved with so many things -- the power of the gospel may get shuffled under so many other things with which we busy ourselves in life, so many ways in which there are so many other things to think about or to consider or be involved with in our day to day lives. It puts one in mind of the parable of the Sower, and Jesus' illustration of what it is for the seed of the word to fall among thorns, which choke the seed with "cares, riches, and pleasures of life" and so prevent spiritual fruition. We are, so many of us, in such a place, choked with all the distractions that the world offers us -- and there are so many, and in such abundance. It makes one reflect that perhaps we are now so surrounded by so many "thorns." But this is why it is essential that we remember to stay centered and renew ourselves in prayer. Prayer has a way (and this is particularly so in the practice of contemplative prayer, such as the Jesus prayer practice) of refocusing and renewing, rendering us in a place where we have a chance to recollect who we are, as did the Prodigal Son when he "came to himself." It's important that we remember who we are by remembering God, and refreshing ourselves in prayer that gives us renewed energy, centered in the power of the gospel message, the freedom that lives in Jesus Christ. This is a freedom from the thorns, a freedom to choose, and to remember who we are and what we must be about, the things that give life meaning beyond what we chase or what distracts us, and the delusions we follow that give ourselves an idea of self that is temporary, transient, and often empty. Our reliance is on God in this centered place, where we can encounter what we truly value, the rock we hold onto, and that supports and sustains when the more worldly things let us down, such as the "praise of men" we may come to rely on without this great value of the gospel that teaches us where and who we truly are in the sight of the One who knows that we are precious enough to reveal a Kingdom to, even if we are just "babes."
