Eyes Ever Heavenward!; Luke 10:17-20

Delivered during the Sunday morning worship service, 5/28/2023. When Jesus prepared His seventy-two disciples for the Kingdom task of evangelism, He used two distinct metaphors to describe the endeavor-- He was sending them into a vast field, ripe for harvest and as lambs into the midst of wolves. In this passage we read of their victorious return and report. They were full of joy because even these "wolves", (meaning the forces of evil) were subject to them. Jesus then reveals the profound spiritual significance of this event with an amazing analogy of the crumbling of satan's kingdom of darkness. We will carefully analyze this analogy and the nature of the authority Jesus' non-apostolic disciples exercise over the powers of evil. Although the spiritual battle Jesus describes will rage throughout the history of the church, He warns His disciples (both then and now) not to spend too much time staring at the darkness. But to realize their real source of joy is their citizenship in the Kingdom of Light-- and therefore to keep their eyes ever Heavenward!