Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.
The seventy messengers Jesus had sent out came back thrilled that demons had obeyed them. His reply turns their eyes from the demons to Satan himself, and from what the demons did to the authority He hands them. Two questions sit inside this promise: where does such authority come from, and how far does "nothing shall hurt you" reach?
Where the authority comes from
The verse opens with a gift, and the giver, not the messengers, is the point of it.
Leslie M. GrantThe Lord said He gave the disciples authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. He was speaking of the hostility of demons. He would also protect the disciples from the harm satanic power wants to do. But this was not meant to draw attention to the messengers. It pointed to Him, the blessed Lord of glory, who gave this authority Himself.
A first instalment of Satan's total defeat
The seventy spoke of demons; Jesus spoke of Satan. What they had seen was small, but it pointed to something settled. The writer borrows a picture from the story of Elijah, a prophet whose servant once watched a tiny cloud grow until it filled the sky.
C E StuartThey spoke of the demons. He spoke of Satan. "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven," He said. The demons obeying His name was the first instalment of complete victory over all the power of the enemy. At the time people did not see that. It was like the cloud the size of a man's hand, which Elijah's servant saw. But that cloud grew until it covered the whole sky. In the same way, the power of the enemy had begun to give way and would be destroyed entirely. His final defeat was certain.
A sample of the age to come
The miracles were not only proof of authority in the present. They showed in advance what the world will be like when the enemy's grip is gone.
J. N. DarbyWhat peace it gives our souls to see Christ's power over all creation, and Satan's power all broken! In the new age this will be shown in full. The miracles the disciples worked were a sign of that energy and power of the Son of Man. The world to come will know it.
Serpents and scorpions
The scorpion carries a picture of its own, one that returns in the book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible.
Walter ScottThese crowds of satanic agents cause intense anguish. It is like the torment of the scorpion's poisonous sting. The scorpion avoids the light, and people across Africa and Asia dread it with good reason. The sting is not often deadly, but the suffering is dreadful… In Luke 10:19 the Lord connects serpents, scorpions, and the power of the enemy with the fall of Satan.
His name, and faith in action
The seventy had traced their success to His name. The name and the power belong together. Something is still needed on our side.
Edward DennettHis name, when rightly borne and used, carries omnipotence with it. So when the seventy returned to the Lord, they said, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name!" The word is "in" His name, not "through" it, as some older translations read. "Yes," replied the Lord, "behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy." The mission and the power to carry it out belong together. Only one thing is needed to use that power: faith, faith in action.
Real power, but not the best thing
What follows in verse 20 could sound like a rebuke. In fact the Lord confirms the gift while pointing them past it.
J. G. BellettIt is not that He undervalues power, or withdraws it from them. No, He rejoices in it, and confirms it in their hands, saying, "I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions." But there is something better. The children's home in heaven is more precious than the earthly power of the heirs of God.
Summary
- Source. The Lord Himself hands over the authority, and it points attention to Him, not to the messengers who use it.
- Sign. Demons yielding was the first instalment of a victory already certain — a cloud the size of a hand before the sky fills.
- Scope. "All the power of the enemy" covers the serpent's craft and the scorpion's torment; The miracles preview the age when Satan's power is broken for good.
- Condition. The mission and the power for it go together, carried in His name and used by active faith.
- Superior joy. He confirms the power and does not take it back. Yet a home in heaven outweighs any power on earth.