Luke 10:16-20 TLB
Background: In our passage today from Luke’s gospel, Jesus has just given his disciples important instructions for preparing a number of towns for his visit. The disciple’s mission is to totally rely upon God; they are to ask God to provide for them, as well as supply more workers to help them. Then, Jesus warns his disciples to expect opposition, but they are not to take it personally. The opposition they will face is really resistance to God’s authority.
16 “The one who listens to you, listens to me. The one who rejects you, rejects me. And rejecting me is the same as rejecting God, who sent me.”
17 The seventy [disciples] came back triumphant. “Master, even the demons danced to your tune!”
18-20 Jesus said, “I know. I saw Satan fall, a bolt of lightning out of the sky. See what I’ve given you? Safe passage as you walk on snakes and scorpions, and protection from every assault of the Enemy. No one can put a hand on you. All the same, the great triumph is not in your authority over evil, but in God’s authority over you and presence with you. Not what you do for God but what God does for you—that’s the agenda for rejoicing.”
Our duty, as temples of God’s presence on earth, is to allow him to prioritize our lives in a way that advances his salvation mission. We are to go into all the world—all the places he takes us each day—and share the message of Christ’s atoning, redeeming, and healing love. We are able to do that because we understand we already have the victory—we have God’s authority operating in our lives.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for making me a citizen of heaven on an earthly mission. I welcome your authority over me and your presence with me. In Jesus’ name. Amen.