January 21, 2022 – Friday
Luke 10:18 NIV
18 He replied, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.
Comment.
In case you are wondering that is Jesus speaking and He is speaking to seventy-two of His disciples. But why did He say it? What was He replying to? Well, it turns out at the beginning of the chapter He had sent out seventy-two of His disciples and told them (v7-8), When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is offered to you. Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ They did that and more as they returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” In other words, they were pumped up, Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name. Who can blame them? Surely, they had never done anything like this before in their lives.
Now we know what He was replying to, but why did He say to them, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Well that was not all He said. He continued in the next two verses to say, I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven. In other words, Don’t get the big head or Don’t get full of yourselves. After all that is what Satan did and he fell. The real cause of your joy should be that your names are written in heaven.
Imagine if God gave any of us the mission to do something and we succeeded beyond our wildest dreams, it would be easy to fall into the trap of a form of spiritual pride. Jesus, in the verses above, is clearly warning His disciples not to fall into such a trap. Any successes we have individually or as a group or team, the LORD gets all the credit and our joy is that He saw fit to use us to accomplish His purpose.
However, there was also pride or pleasure in His disciples when He said, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Afterall, their successes, particularly the ability to exercise Jesus’ authority over demons, is what likely cause Jesus to speak of Satan’ fall. Every success they had in casting out demons was part of the fall of Satan. To Jesus Satan’s fall was so immediate it was incredibly extraordinary, so He described it like lightning from heaven.
Prayer: Almighty God, Thank You for once again showing us the danger of pride. Help us to remember no matter what we do or accomplish, it is because of Your gifts to us in ability or perseverance. – In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
RileyD, nwJ
Riley D. Driver – Pastor
Calvary Chapel of Dayton
in Beavercreek