"Then the seventy returned with joy saying,"Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name. And HE said to them, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I gave you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall by any means harm you. NEVERTHELESS do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven."
I love this gentle reprimand from Jesus as He guides his disciples, and in turn guides us to keep our priorities straight. I can only imagine, as I put myself in the place of the seventy. These are the ones chosen by Jesus to go out and witness in His name. He had entrusted them with the Good News; spiritual gifts and instructions; and with the lost people that He so longed to bring unto Himself. I can only see myself in their excitement over seeing people freed from demonic strongholds. How remarkable would it be to witness the healing of people who had been plagued by possession or sickness? They so excitedly brought good report back from the mission field and boasted an astonishment at the power in Jesus' name. Jesus is obviously not surprised since, after all, He had witnessed Satan's fall to earth at the order of Almighty God. He also reminds them that any power they witnessed had been given to them by Him. 'I gave you the authority'. How often, when we see great breakthroughs on our spiritual journey, do we tend to credit ourselves and think that somehow our blessing comes from something that we have done because we have behaved better; or sacrificed more; or worshipped deeper; or that blessing has come as a result of something we have controlled? Jesus must sense that the disciples are forgetting that it was He who gave them power over the enemy. He protects them of boasting in their own power. Jesus assures them that because of His imbued power, nothing will harm them.... because of His authority; not theirs.
Finally, for me this last part of this passage is the most meaningful.
Jesus says, "NEVERTHELESS".....don't be praising God over the miracles done or even the outpouring of deliverance in My name. He otherwise instructs them to rejoice because they have received the gift of eternal life through Him...their names are forever written in the Lamb's Book of Life.
He reminds us in the victories of battle; the most treasured victory is the one issued for us at the cross...the eternal victory of life over death. The gift of eternal salvation.
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