............................................................................................................................................
The Defeat Of Our Cosmic Enemy
When Did Jesus See Satan "Fall
Like Lightning"?
In one of the more enigmatic verses in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus tells
His disciples, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven" (Luke 10:18).
The
question isn't about the what of Jesus' statement. It's clear that
Satan is under judgment.
Rather,
the confusion is over the when of the statement.
It might
sound like a reference to when Satan became Satan, before the garden
of Eden-abandoning his status among God's heavenly host-but that conclusion
would be too hasty
We
basically have three options when it comes to figuring out the timing of
Satan's fall: before, during or after Jesus' own time.
Many
people have offered opinions. Perhaps the most common interpretation is that
Jesus is seeing or remembering the original fall of Satan.
This
option makes little sense in context.
Prior to
the statement, Jesus had sent out the disciples to heal and preach that the
kingdom of God had drawn near to them (Luke 10:1-9).
They
return amazed and excited by the fact that demons were subject to them in the
name of Jesus (Luke 10:17).
Jesus then says, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from
heaven."
There is
a connection between the kingdom, the defeat of demons, and Satan.
But if
Satan's fall in Luke 10:18 speaks of an event in the remote past, why wasn't the kingdom
established then?
Why was
Satan still powerful when Jesus showed up on the scene?
Even with
the kingdom of Israel under David and the presence of God in the temple, the
power and influence of Satan is evident on nearly every page of Old Testament
history.
The view
that Jesus was referring to Satan's fall during his own ministry is better, but
is not without problem.
We don't
read anywhere in the Bible of anyone casting out demons prior to Jesus' ministry.
That
display of power-as well as the announcements of the kingdom and the ruling
authority of God on earth-is unmistakable.
This is
consistent with what Luke writes in the next chapter (Luke
11:14-23), where
he identifies Jesus with the "strong man" who binds Satan.
With
Jesus having bound the strong man (Satan), He and His disciples can plunder
Satan's realm.
This
seems to tie in with what Jesus says after His statement about Satan (Luke
10:19-20), where
He grants the disciples power over the forces of evil.
But these
verses also produce difficulties.
Why do we
read later in the same gospel and other parts of the New Testament that the
disciples weren't immune from Satan's power (Luke
22:31-61; 2
Corinthians 12:7; 1
Thessalonians 2:18)?
This
brings us to the third option: Jesus' statement refers to a time subsequent to
His own.
Since
Satan was (and is) still alive and well-with respect to his ongoing opposition
to the Church everywhere-it makes sense to see Satan's fall "like
lightning from heaven" as a future event.
The
wording used by Luke ("I saw") was quite common in the Old Testament
for introducing prophetic visions, especially in the book of Daniel (Daniel 4:10; Daniel 7:2, Daniel 7:4, Daniel
7:6-7, Daniel 7:9, Daniel 7:11, Daniel 7:13, Daniel 7:21).1
My own
view is a combination of the second and third view. It seems quite clear that
the rule of God began at the ministry of Jesus, but it is a rule in progress
that will reach a final culmination at a future time.
As the
Old Testament repeatedly reminds us, and as Jesus affirmed in Luke 10:18, on that day the defeat of our cosmic enemy will be swift
and final.
Endnote:
1. The
very same form of the Greek verb used in Luke
10:18 is used in all these "vision" references in the
Greek version of Daniel.
Article courtesy of Bible Study Magazine published
by Logos Bible Software. Each issue
of Bible Study Magazine provides tools and methods for Bible study as
well as insights from people like John Piper, Beth Moore, Mark Driscoll, Kay
Arthur, Randy Alcorn, John MacArthur, Barry Black, and more. More information
is available at http://www.biblestudymagazine.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment