Luke 10:18

And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. AND HE SAID, I BEHOLD [ etheooroun (G2334 )] SATAN AS LIGHTNING FALL FROM HEAVEN. Since much of the force of this glorious statement depends on the nice shade of sense indicated by the imperfect tense in the original, it might have been well to bring it out in the translation: 'I was beholding Satan as lightning falling from heaven:'-q.d., 'I followed you on your mission, and watched its triumphs; while ye were wondering at the subjection to you of devils in My name, a grander spectacle was opening to My view; sudden as the darting of lightning from heaven to earth Satan was beheld by Mine eye falling from heaven!' By that law of association which connects a part with the whole, those feeble triumphs of the Seventy seem to have not only brought vivi...

18._I beheld Satan _From one instance Christ leads them to the whole class; for he commanded his Gospel to be published for the very purpose of overturning Satan’s kingdom. (52) So then, while the disciples rested solely on that demonstration which they had obtained from experience, Christ reminds them, that the power and efficacy of their doctrine extends farther, and that its tendency is to extirpate the tyranny which Satan exercises over the whole human race. We have now ascertained the meaning of the words. When Christ commanded that his Gospel should be preached, he did not at all attempt a matter of doubtful result, but foresaw the approaching ruin of Satan. (53) Now since the Son of God cannot be deceived, and this exercise of his foresight relates to the whole course of the Gospel, we have no reason to doubt, that whenever he raises up faithful teachers, he will crow

17-24 All our victories over Satan, are obtained by power derived from Jesus Christ, and he must have all the praise. But let us beware of spiritual pride, which has been the destruction of many. Our Lord rejoiced at the prospect of the salvation of many souls. It was fit that particular notice should be taken of that hour of joy; there were few such, for He was a man of sorrows: in that hour in which he saw Satan fall, and heard of the good success of his ministers, in that hour he rejoiced. He has ever resisted the proud, and given grace to the humble. The more simply dependent we are on the teaching, help, and blessing of the Son of God, the more we shall know both of the Father and of the Son; the more blessed we shall be in seeing the glory, and hearing the words of the Divine Saviour; and the more useful we shall be made in promoting his cause....

Verse Luke 10:18. _I BEHELD SATAN_] Or, _Satan himself_, τον σαταναν, _the_ _very Satan_, the _supreme adversary_, falling as lightning, with the utmost _suddenness_, as a flash of lightning falls from the clouds, and at the same time in the most _observable_ manner. The fall was both very _sudden_ and very _apparent_. Thus should the fall of the corrupt Jewish state be, and thus was the fall of idolatry in the Gentile world....

I BEHELD SATAN ... - “Satan” here denotes evidently the prince of the devils who had been cast out by the seventy disciples, for the discourse was respecting their power over evil spirits. “Lightning” is an image of “rapidity” or “quickness.” I saw Satan fall “quickly” or rapidly - as quick as lightning. The phrase “from heaven” is to be referred to the lightning, and does not mean that he saw “Satan” fall “from heaven,” but that he fell as quick as lightning from heaven or from the clouds. The whole expression then may mean, “I saw at your command devils immediately depart, as quick as the flash of lightning. I gave you this power - I saw it put forth - and I give also now, in addition to this, the power to tread on serpents,” etc....

EXPOSITION LUKE 10:1 _The mission of the seventy. The Lord_'_s words to them of instruction and direction and warning._ LUKE 10:1 AFTER THESE THINGS THE LORD APPOINTED OTHER SEVENTY ALSO. That is to say, after the events just related which had taken place in the north of the Holy Land. "Alter these things" formally began the solemn marches in the direction of Jerusalem, which ended, as we have stated, in the last Passover. Roughly speaking, the seventy were first sent out about the October of the last year of the public ministry. The manuscripts vary between seventy and seventy two. The preponderance of authority is in favour of seventy. The Sanhedrin numbered seventy-one. The elders appointed by Moses were seventy. The

AND HE SAID UNTO THEM,.... In order to abate their surprise, and reduce their transport of mind: I BEHELD SATAN AS LIGHTNING FALL FROM HEAVEN; meaning, that this was no news to him, nor any surprising event, that devils should be cast out of men, and be in a state of subjection; for as he existed as the eternal Son of God before his incarnation, he was present, and saw him and his angels fall from heaven, from their first estate, their habitation of bliss and glory, down to hell, upon their sin and rebellion, as violently, swiftly, and suddenly, as the lightning falls from heaven to earth; and when he sent out these his disciples, as soon as they began their work, and all along in it, he, by his divine omniscience, saw the powers of darkness falling before their ministry and miracles; and he also foresaw how Satan hereafter, in a more conspicuous manner, would fall before the preaching...

Our Lord was about to send out seventy disciples to preach the gospel. He had already chosen his twelve apostles; now there must be seventy disciples, something like Moses had seventy elders to serve under him. Some have fancifully likened these two sets of men to the twelve wells of water and seventy palm trees at Elim; and certainly they were for the refreshment of the people. Luke 10:1. _After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come._ They were to go before Christ, and be his heralds. What a mercy it is when the preacher knows that his Master is coming after him, when he can hear the sound of his Master's feet behind him! What courage it gives him! He knows that, though it is very little that he can do, be is the thin end of the wedge preparing the way for One wh

CHAPTER 10 _ 1. The Seventy Appointed. (Luke 10:1)_ 2. The Return of the Seventy and the True Rejoicing. (Luke 10:17) 3. Jesus Rejoiced in Spirit. (Luke 10:21) 4. The Question of the Lawyer. (Luke 10:25) 5. The Parable of the Good Samaritan. (Luke 10:30) 6. Martha and Mary. (Luke 10:38 .) Luke 10:1 Seventy others are commissioned by Him to be His

RETURN OF THE SEVENTY. With Luke 10:17; cf. Luke 9:10 = Mark 6:30. The missioners report that the demons obey them in the name of Jesus. Jesus assents; He had watched Satan fall from heaven during their mission. Messiah's rule is in the ascendant. They are endowed with power to subdue the devil and all his agencies, yet their joy must rest rather upon the fact that they are citizens of the new kingdom. LUKE 10:19. If an authentic saying this is probably metaphorical. _Cf._ Mark 16:18, and for a literal illustration...