Luke 10:19
Behold, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. Nothing will harm you.
Behold
The Greek word for "behold" is "ἰδού" (idou), which serves as an imperative to draw attention to something significant. In the biblical context, it is often used to emphasize a divine revelation or an important truth. Here, Jesus is calling His disciples to pay close attention to the authority He is bestowing upon them. This word sets the stage for the profound empowerment that follows, urging believers to recognize the gravity and reality of the spiritual authority granted to them.

I have given you authority
The term "authority" comes from the Greek "ἐξουσία" (exousia), which implies the power to act, the right to exercise power, and the jurisdiction over a domain. In this context, Jesus is not merely offering a temporary empowerment but a lasting spiritual authority. This authority is a divine commission, reflecting the believer's role in God's kingdom to overcome spiritual adversaries. Historically, this authority is rooted in the victory of Christ over sin and death, a victory that believers are called to participate in.

to tread on snakes and scorpions
The imagery of "snakes and scorpions" is symbolic, representing evil forces and demonic powers. In the ancient Near Eastern context, these creatures were often associated with danger and malevolence. The act of treading upon them signifies dominion and victory over these threats. This phrase reassures believers of their power, through Christ, to overcome spiritual challenges and adversities. It echoes the promise of Genesis 3:15, where the seed of the woman will crush the serpent's head, symbolizing ultimate triumph over evil.

and over all the power of the enemy
The "enemy" here refers to Satan and his demonic forces. The Greek word for "power" is "δύναμις" (dynamis), indicating strength, ability, and influence. Jesus assures His followers that they have been given authority over all the capabilities and schemes of the devil. This promise is a source of encouragement, reminding believers that no spiritual force can prevail against them when they stand firm in their God-given authority.

Nothing will harm you
This phrase is a powerful assurance of divine protection. The Greek word for "harm" is "ἀδικέω" (adikeo), which means to injure or wrong. Jesus promises that, despite the presence of spiritual adversaries, His followers will be safeguarded from ultimate harm. This does not imply a life free from trials or persecution but guarantees that no spiritual attack can sever the believer from the love and protection of God. It is a call to live fearlessly, trusting in the sovereign protection of the Almighty.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Jesus Christ
The speaker of this verse, Jesus is addressing His disciples, granting them authority over spiritual adversaries.

2. The Disciples
The immediate audience of Jesus' words, they are empowered to carry out His mission with divine authority.

3. Snakes and Scorpions
Symbolic representations of evil and demonic forces that the disciples are given power over.

4. The Enemy
Refers to Satan and his demonic forces, representing spiritual opposition to God's kingdom.

5. The Mission
The broader context of Jesus sending out the seventy-two disciples to preach the kingdom of God and perform miracles.
Teaching Points
Authority in Christ
Believers are endowed with spiritual authority through Jesus, enabling them to confront and overcome evil.

Spiritual Warfare
The Christian life involves a battle against spiritual forces, requiring vigilance and reliance on God's power.

Protection and Assurance
While believers face spiritual opposition, they are assured of God's protection and ultimate victory.

Symbolism of Snakes and Scorpions
Understanding these symbols helps believers recognize and resist the subtle and overt attacks of the enemy.

Faith and Obedience
Exercising authority requires faith in Christ's promises and obedience to His commands.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does understanding the authority given by Jesus in Luke 10:19 impact your daily spiritual walk?

2. In what ways can you apply the promise of protection in this verse to situations of fear or spiritual attack in your life?

3. How do the symbols of snakes and scorpions help you identify and resist spiritual challenges today?

4. What connections can you draw between the authority given in Luke 10:19 and the spiritual armor described in Ephesians 6:10-18?

5. How can the assurance of victory over the enemy in this verse encourage you to engage more actively in spiritual warfare and prayer?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Genesis 3:15
The promise of enmity between the serpent and the seed of the woman, foreshadowing Christ's victory over Satan.

Psalm 91:13
A promise of protection, where the faithful are assured they will tread upon the lion and the cobra.

Mark 16:17-18
Jesus' promise that signs will accompany believers, including protection from serpents.

Ephesians 6:10-18
The armor of God, emphasizing the spiritual battle against evil forces.

Revelation 12:9
The depiction of Satan as the ancient serpent, highlighting the ongoing spiritual conflict.
The Mission of the SeventyR.M. Edgar Luke 10:1-24
Divine ProtectionMemoirs of Bishop Gobat.Luke 10:17-20
Immunity from SnakebitesPhilip H. Gosse, F. R. S.Luke 10:17-20
Insured ElectionLuke 10:17-20
Looking Back Upon Our Earthly LifeNewman Smyth, D. D.Luke 10:17-20
Mission of the Seventy DisciplesExpository OutlinesLuke 10:17-20
Power of Spiritual LifeJ. M. Buckley.Luke 10:17-20
Reporting to ChristSt. John A. Frere, M. A.Luke 10:17-20
Return of the SeventyS. L. B. Speare.Luke 10:17-20
Satan Lamed by His Fall from HeavenBiblical Things not Generally Known.Luke 10:17-20
ScorpionsLuke 10:17-20
Suicide of the ScorpionLuke 10:17-20
The Certainty of SalvationVan Oosterzee.Luke 10:17-20
The Highest EulogyVan Oosterzee.Luke 10:17-20
The Noblest Source of JoyPresident Davies.Luke 10:17-20
The SeventyD. C. Hughes, M. A.Luke 10:17-20
The Successful Minister's SafeguardPhilip C. Barker, M. A.Luke 10:17-20
The Supreme JoyT. Akroyd.Luke 10:17-20
The True Doctrine of ElectionG. Swinnock.Luke 10:17-20
Why May I Rejoice?C. H. Spurgeon.Luke 10:17-20
People
Jesus, Martha, Mary
Places
Bethsaida, Capernaum, Chorazin, Jericho, Jerusalem, Road to Jerusalem, Sidon, Sodom, Tyre
Topics
Anything, Anywise, Authority, Beasts, Behold, Case, Damage, Enemy, Evil, Harm, Hurt, Injure, Nothing, Overcome, Power, Scorpions, Serpents, Snakes, Strength, Trample, Tread, Treading, Underfoot, Wise
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Luke 10:19

     2012   Christ, authority
     2021   Christ, faithfulness
     4121   Satan, enemy of God
     4126   Satan, resistance to
     4135   demons, Christ's authority over
     4687   snake
     5290   defeat
     5457   power, human
     5598   victory, over spiritual forces
     7968   spiritual gifts, nature of

Luke 10:17-19

     4195   spirits
     7953   mission, of church

Luke 10:17-21

     8289   joy, of church

Luke 10:18-19

     2324   Christ, as Saviour

Luke 10:18-20

     9155   millennium

Library
Definiteness of Purpose in Christian Work
TEXT: "Salute no man by the way."--Luke 10:4. Luke is the only one of the Evangelists giving us the account of the sending out of the seventy. The others tell us that Christ called certain men unto him and commissioned them to tell his story; but in this instance after Jesus had said, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head," he calls the seventy and sends them forth prepared to endure any sacrifice or suffer any affliction if only
J. Wilbur Chapman—And Judas Iscariot

October 28 Evening
The Enemy.--LUKE 10:19. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.--Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

June 14 Evening
Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things.--LUKE 10:41. Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap. Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not. Seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. Your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. Having food and raiment let us be therewith content . . . They that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

January 9 Evening
One thing is needful.--LUKE 10:42. There be many that say, Who will shew us any good? Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us. Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased. As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God.--O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land,
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

March 8. "Pray Ye Therefore" (Luke x. 2).
"Pray Ye therefore" (Luke x. 2). Prayer is the mighty engine that is to move the missionary work. "Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest that He will send forth laborers into His harvest." We are asking God to touch the hearts of men every day by the Holy Ghost, so that they shall be compelled to go abroad and preach the Gospel. We are asking Him to wake them up at night with the solemn conviction that the heathen are perishing, and that their blood will be upon their souls, and God is answering
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

The Good Samaritan
LUKE x. 33, 34. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, and went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. No words, perhaps, ever spoken on earth, have had more effect than those of this parable. They are words of power and of spirit; living words, which have gone forth into the hearts and lives of men, and borne fruit in them of a hundred
Charles Kingsley—Discipline and Other Sermons

The Tables Turned: the Questioners Questioned
'But when the Pharisees had heard that He had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. 35. Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked Him a question, tempting Him, and saying, 36. Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37. Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38. This is the first and great commandment. 39. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40.
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Christ's Messengers: their Equipment and Work
'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. 2. Therefore said He unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He would send forth labourers into His harvest. 3. Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves. 4. Carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes; and salute no man by the way. 5. And into whatsoever
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

Neighbours Far Off
'And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted Him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 26. He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? 27. And he, answering, said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. 28. And He said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. 29. But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus,
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

Sanctification
SANCTIFICATION [1] St Luke x. 42.--"One thing is needful." I have read many writings both of heathen philosophers and inspired prophets, ancient and modern, and have sought earnestly to discover what is the best and highest quality whereby man may approach most nearly to union with God, and whereby he may most resemble the ideal of himself which existed in God, before God created men. And after having thoroughly searched these writings as far as my reason may penetrate, I find no higher quality than
Johannes Eckhart—Meister Eckhart's Sermons

On the Words of the Gospel, Luke x. 16, "He that Rejecteth You Rejecteth Me. "
1. What our Lord Jesus Crist at that time spake to His disciples was put in writing, and prepared for us to hear. And so we have heard His words. For what profit would it be to us if He were seen, and were not heard? And now it is no hurt, that He is not seen, and yet is heard. He saith then, "He that despiseth you, despiseth Me." [3300] If to the Apostles only He said, "He that despiseth you, despiseth Me;" do ye despise us. But if His word reach to us, and He hath called us, and set us in their
Saint Augustine—sermons on selected lessons of the new testament

On the Words of the Gospel, Luke x. 2, "The Harvest Truly is Plenteous," Etc.
1. By the lesson of the Gospel which has just been read, we are reminded to search what that harvest is of which the Lord says, "The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few. Pray ye the Lord of the harvest, that He would send forth labourers into His harvest." [3262] Then to His twelve disciples, whom He also named Apostles, He added other seventy-two, and sent them all, as appears from His words, to the harvest then ready. What then was that harvest? For that harvest was not among these
Saint Augustine—sermons on selected lessons of the new testament

On the Words of the Gospel, Luke x. 38, "And a Certain Woman Named Martha Received Him into Her House," Etc.
1. The words of our Lord Jesus Christ which have just been read out of the Gospel, give us to understand, that there is some one thing for which we must be making, when we toil amid the manifold engagements of this life. Now we make for this as being yet in pilgrimage, and not in our abiding place; as yet in the way, not yet in our country; as yet in longing, not yet in enjoyment. Yet let us make for it, and that without sloth and without intermission, that we may some time be able to reach it. 2.
Saint Augustine—sermons on selected lessons of the new testament

Again, on the Words of the Gospel, Luke x. 38, Etc. , About Martha and Mary.
1. When the holy Gospel was being read, we heard that the Lord was received by a religious woman into her house, and her name was Martha. And while she was occupied in the care of serving, her sister Mary was sitting at the Lord's Feet, and hearing His Word. The one was busy, the other was still; one was giving out, the other was being filled. Yet Martha, all busy as she was in that occupation and toil of serving, appealed to the Lord, and complained of her sister, that she did not help her in her
Saint Augustine—sermons on selected lessons of the new testament

On Dissipation
"This I speak -- that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction." 1 Cor. 7:35. 1. Almost in every part of our nation, more especially in the large and populous towns, we hear a general complaint among sensible persons, of the still increasing dissipation. It is observed to diffuse itself more and more, in the court, the city, and the country. From the continual mention which is made of this, and the continual declamations against it, one would naturally imagine that a word so commonly used
John Wesley—Sermons on Several Occasions

The one Thing Needful
The mere posture of sitting down and listening to the Saviour's word was nothing in itself: it was that which it indicated. It indicated, in Mary's case, a readiness to believe what the Saviour taught, to accept and to obey--nay to delight in, the precepts which fell from his lips. And this is the one thing needful--absolutely needful; for no rebel can enter the kingdom of heaven with the weapons of rebellion in his hands. We cannot know Christ while we resist Christ: we must be reconciled to his
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 17: 1871

The Good Samaritan
(Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity.) S. LUKE x. 30. "A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves." The scene of the parable is a wild, lonely road between Jerusalem and Jericho. It is a road with an evil name for murder and robbery, and is called the red, or bloody way. The mishap of the traveller was common enough in our Lord's day, and is common enough now. But I would take the scene of this parable in a wider sense; I would ask you to look at it as the wayside of
H. J. Wilmot-Buxton—The Life of Duty, a Year's Plain Sermons, v. 2

Zeal.
13th Sunday after Trinity. S. Luke x., 23. "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" INTRODUCTION.--The Kingdom of Heaven, said our Lord, is like unto a treasure hid in a field. One day a man is turning over the stones which lie in a heap in a corner of the field, and he finds under them an iron chest, and this chest he believes to be full of gold. Then he carefully covers it up again with stones and earth, and goes off in the greatest excitement to the owner of the field, and offers him a price,
S. Baring-Gould—The Village Pulpit, Volume II. Trinity to Advent

Lorimer -- the Fall of Satan
George C. Lorimer was born at Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1838. He was brought up by his stepfather who was associated with the theater, and in this relation he received a dramatic education and had some experience on the stage. In 1855 he came to the United States, where he joined the Baptist Church and abandoned the theatrical profession. Later he studied for the Baptist ministry, being ordained in 1859. He died in 1904. His direct and dramatic, pulpit style brought him into great popularity in Boston,
Grenville Kleiser—The world's great sermons, Volume 8

Question on the Religious State
Are Contemplative Orders superior to Active Orders? Are Contemplative Orders superior to Active Orders? The Lord declared that Mary's was the best part, and she is the type of the contemplative life.[491] Religious Orders differ from one another primarily according to the ends they have in view, but secondarily according to the works they practise. And since one thing cannot be said to be superior to another save by reason of the differences between them, it will follow that the superiority of
St. Thomas Aquinas—On Prayer and The Contemplative Life

Christian Perfection
Definition of perfection: Unblemished, blameless, pure. We are commanded to be perfect. "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."--Matt. 5:48. "For we are glad, when we are weak, and ye are strong: and this also we wish, even your perfection. Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you."--2 Cor. 13:9, 11. "Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ,
J. W. Byers—Sanctification

The Christian's Fellow Man
Scripture references: Luke 10:29-37; Matthew 7:12; 5:16; Luke 12:13-15; 1 Corinthians 13; Matthew 7:3-5; 5:42-49; John 21:21, 22. MAN AND OTHER MEN The Question of Relationship.--One of the most important questions is that of the relation which a man shall hold to other men. 1. It is fundamental in every system of philosophy and religion. The answers, which are given, show their widespread practical bearing in the social, industrial and political spheres, as well as in the religious. 2. It is imperative
Henry T. Sell—Studies in the Life of the Christian

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