Church Fathers Commentary Luke 10:17-20

"And the seventy returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are subject unto us in thy name. And he said unto them, I beheld Satan fallen as lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall in any wise hurt you. Nevertheless in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rejoice that your names are written in heaven." — Luke 10:17-20 (ASV)

St. Cyril of Alexandria: It was said above that our Lord sent out His disciples sealed with the grace of the Holy Spirit. As ministers of preaching, they received power over the unclean spirits. But now, upon their return, they confess the power of Him who honored them, as it is said: And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject to us... They seemed to rejoice more that they were made workers of miracles than that they had become ministers of preaching. But they should have rejoiced more in those whom they had won over, as St. Paul says to those who were called by him, My joy and my crown.

St. Gregory the Great: Now our Lord, in a remarkable way, sought to curb the pride in His disciples' hearts by relating the account of the fall suffered by the teacher of pride. He did this so that they might learn from the example of the author of pride what they should dread from the sin of pride. Thus, He says, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.

St. Basil the Great: He is called Satan because he is an enemy to God (for this is what the Hebrew word signifies), but he is called the Devil because he assists us in doing evil and is an accuser. His nature is incorporeal, and his abode is in the air.

The Venerable Bede: He does not say, "I see now," but refers to a past time: "I saw," meaning when Satan fell. By the words as lightning, He signifies either a headlong fall from the highest places to the lowest, or that now, having been cast down, he transforms himself into an angel of light.

Titus of Bostra: He says that He saw it as the Judge, for He knew the sufferings of the spirits. Or, He says as lightning because by nature Satan shone like lightning but became darkness through his own inclinations, since he changed what God made good into evil within himself.

St. Basil the Great: For the heavenly Powers are not naturally holy; rather, they receive their measure of sanctification in proportion to their participation in divine love. As iron placed in the fire does not cease to be iron—even though, by the intense application of the flame, it takes on the effect and appearance of fire—so also the Powers on high have a holiness implanted in them from their participation in that which is inherently holy.

For Satan could not have fallen if he had been by nature incapable of evil.

St. Cyril of Alexandria: Alternatively, the words I saw Satan as lightning fall from heaven mean a fall from the highest power to the uttermost powerlessness. Before the coming of our Savior, he had subdued the world to himself and was worshiped by all people. But when the only-begotten Word of God came down from heaven, he fell like lightning, since he is now trodden underfoot by those who worship Christ. As it follows: Behold, I give you power to tread upon serpents...

Titus of Bostra: Indeed, serpents once figuratively bit the Jews and killed them because of their unbelief. But One came who would destroy those serpents—namely, the Brazen Serpent, who is the Crucified One—so that if anyone looked on Him in faith, he would be healed from his wounds and saved.

St. John Chrysostom: Then, so that we would not suppose this was spoken of literal beasts, He added, And over all the power of the enemy.

The Venerable Bede: That is, "I give you the power to cast out every kind of unclean spirit from the bodies they possess." And concerning the disciples themselves, He adds, And nothing shall by any means hurt you. This can also be taken literally. For Paul suffered no injury when attacked by a viper, and tradition says John was not harmed by drinking poison.

But I think there is this difference between serpents, which bite with their teeth, and scorpions, which sting with their tails: serpents signify men or spirits who rage openly, while scorpions signify those who plot in secret. Or, serpents are those who poison virtues at their beginning with evil persuasion, while scorpions are those who seek to corrupt virtues that have been brought to perfection.

Theophylact of Ohrid: Alternatively, serpents are those that hurt visibly, such as the evil spirits that tempt to adultery and murder. But scorpions are those that injure invisibly, such as in the sins of the spirit.

Gregory of Nyssa: Pleasure is called a serpent in Scripture. By its nature, if a serpent can get its head through an opening, it drags its whole body after it. In the same way, nature has given humanity the necessities of life. But through these necessities, pleasure assaults the heart and perverts it toward the indulgence of excessive adornment.

In addition, it brings covetousness in its wake, which is followed by lust—the very tail of the beast. And just as it is impossible to pull a serpent back by its tail, so too we cannot remove pleasure by starting with its final expression, unless we have first closed the initial entrance to evil.

St. Athanasius of Alexandria: But now, through the power of Christ, young men mock the pleasure that formerly led the aged astray, and virgins steadfastly trample on the desires of serpent-like pleasure. Some also tread upon the very sting of the scorpion—that is, of the devil—which is death; not fearing destruction, they become witnesses of the Word. Many, giving up earthly things, walk with a free step in heaven, not dreading the prince of the air.

Titus of Bostra: But because the joy He saw them expressing savored of vainglory—for they rejoiced that they were, so to speak, exalted and a terror to men and evil spirits—our Lord therefore adds, Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you...

The Venerable Bede: They are forbidden to rejoice in the subjection of the spirits, since they themselves were flesh. For casting out spirits and exercising other powers is sometimes not because of the merit of the one who performs the miracle, but is accomplished through the invocation of Christ's name, either for the condemnation of those who mock it or for the benefit of those who see and hear.

St. Cyril of Alexandria: Why, O Lord, do You not permit people to rejoice in the honors You confer, since it is written, In your name shall they rejoice all the day? But the Lord lifts them up to greater joys. Thus, He adds, But rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.

The Venerable Bede: It is as if He said, "You should rejoice not in the defeat of evil spirits, but in your own exaltation." But we should understand that when a person does either heavenly or earthly works, he is thereby, as if recorded by name, forever fixed in the memory of God.

Theophylact of Ohrid: For the names of the saints are written in the book of life not with ink, but in the memory and grace of God. Indeed, the devil fell from above; but human beings, who are from below, have their names inscribed above in heaven.

St. Basil the Great: There are some who are written not in the book of life but, according to Jeremiah, "in the earth," so that there is a kind of double enrollment: one to life, and the other to destruction. But since it is said, Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, this is spoken of those who were once considered worthy to be written in the book of God. In this way, a name is said to be written down or blotted out when we turn from virtue to sin, or from sin back to virtue.