March 16, 2026 -Trample the Enemy
- brooks16055
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
Luke 10:17-20 NIV
[17] The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” [18] He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. [19] I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. [20] However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
When I read this I was reminded of the scripture for church today is Genesis 3:6-15 which includes the verses...
14 So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, “Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life.15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
Reading a story of Jesus (the one who will crush the serpents head) saying that He saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven brings it all full circle. He who was there before creation and has the authority to cast Satan from heaven also gave the disciples (the offspring of women) the power to trample on snakes and "overcome all the power of the enemy". Enmity is the quality of being an enemy. Someone you have enmity with is your enemy. It is a state of deep-rooted hostility and active opposition. What a perfect way to describe the battle of the sinful nature. I have always been taught that the verses in Genisis 3 are talking about Jesus' victory over sin and death on the cross. But here even before He fully overcomes sin and death, He is allowing His disciples to have a taste of that victory. It's like He is intentionally setting them up to see the relationship to the statement in Genesis. And He points them to the greater victory when He tells them not to rejoice that the spirits submit to them; but that because their names are written in heaven. It's like He is saying look it's not about what you did. It is about what I am going to do. You could only do what you did because I gave you the power to do it through the power of my name. But I have power that you can't comprehend. Power to defeat the enemy for eternity and your faith in me assures your place in eternity with me.
I have been studying, writing and teaching on the incomprehensible nature of God. We try to fit the complex things of God into human sized boxes. Here is a human sized taste of Jesus' power over the enemy. Evil, sin and death. I love that He allows His disciples to experience this foreshadowing of the ultimate victory to come. As amazing as it is to the disciples that demons submitted to them in Jesus' name, what Jesus Himself is doing is incomprehensibly greater and more miraculous and what we should rejoice about. After all it is the only reason our names are written in heaven.
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