REJOICE THAT YOUR NAME IS WRITTEN IN HEAVEN

REJOICE THAT YOUR NAME IS WRITTEN IN HEAVEN

By Fr. Felix (African Times Guest Writer)

The return of the seventy (or seventy-two –

depending on the manuscript text followed)

disciples from their mission comes only in

Luke, since it is only in Luke that they are sent

out.

Their joy in commanding the demons in the

name of Jesus is seen also in the wonders and

cures wrought in the Acts, for the name of

Jesus signifies his power and his presence

(Acts 3.6; 4.10, 12). This is the name they

proclaim and the name into which believers are

baptised.

The declaration of Jesus that he saw Satan fall

like lightning from heaven is his most

apocalyptic saying recorded. It has been

understood, and indeed often depicted, in a

literal sense. In the frequent apocalyptic

language of Judaism at the time, however, with

its liberal use of personified angels and spirits,

it is a promise of the total triumph of the power

of Jesus over evil. It is not so much a promise

that Jesus has already abolished all evil as a

timeless guarantee of that triumph.