70 WITH AUTHORITY
Luke 10: 1, 19 After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two by two before his face into every city and place, whither He Himself would come. Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
Jesus and the 12 disciples were operating together in delegated authority and now, Jesus was about to expand the team. In this chapter, in Verse 9, Jesus told the 70 to heal the sick and preach and teach that the Kingdom of God has come near to them. Jesus sent the 70 out like a crusade team, two by two, to get the cities ready for Jesus’ arrival. Jesus gave them instructions about how to treat people who receive the message and what to do when they didn’t receive the message of the Kingdom. Jesus told them if a city didn’t receive them, to shake the dust off their feet from that city and move on. As these teams of two went, they came back and reported to Jesus. What did they report? Verse 17 tells us that the delegated authority Jesus gave them worked the same way it did with Jesus and so, it did with the disciples. They said, “Even the demons are subject to us through your name.” That was quite a thing to these 70, as they came to report on the cities and the people Jesus sent them to.
What I find interesting is what Jesus said to them and is, also, saying to us. He said that He saw Satan fall from Heaven like lightning. He told them, and is telling us, that He has given us power over serpents and scorpions (He is not talking about the poisonous creatures; He is talking about the devil and demons). He went on to say that He has given us power or authority over all the enemy. Again, He was not just talking to the 70, He was talking to us. We, too, have this delegated authority. We have the same authority Jesus did. We have the same delegated authority the 12 did, and we have the same delegated authority the 70 did. Notice, they said, “the demons are subject to us through your name.” But notice and remember, He is telling them, and us, not to rejoice because evil spirits are subject to us through the name of Jesus but rejoice because our name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Think of it this way, getting rid of sickness and disease, and getting rid of the devil and his demons is just normal life for believers who are in Jesus, who have revelation of His name. Spend your time rejoicing about your place in Heaven. You are a child of the Most High God and your name is written down to prove it!