Luke 10:18 (NKJV) And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.”
Without going too much into WHY Jesus said this, it has long intrigued me as to WHEN Jesus saw what He did here and how it fits in the chronology: And how it might be related to the events of Revelation 12. — Question from Eric H
I believe the evidence points in the direction that Jesus sees in the disciple’s jubilant report of success in casting out demons in His name, not only Satan’s present loss of power, but the sign and foretaste that by Jesus’ binding of the strongman (Mk 3:27), Satan’s ultimate downfall has already been set in irresistible motion. With this confirmation of success, Jesus promises yet further success in the future, even power “over all the power of the enemy” (Lk 10:17-20).
Later, when His hour was most immediately at hand, Jesus would say, “NOW is the judgment of this world; NOW shall the prince of this world be cast out” (Jn 12:13). With His proclamation from the cross, “it is finished” (Jn 19:30), and the resurrection as proof of the Father’s full acceptance of His blood as the sin offering (Isa 53:11; Ro 4:25), all that was necessary to set in motion the end of Satan’s tenure as the “god of this age” (2Cor 4:4) was NOW accomplished (“finished” / tetelestai).
The wound to the serpent’s head had been fatally inflicted (Gen 3:15) but the full conquest and subjugation of Satan’s influence would require two more decisive stages. Those being Christ’s return at the end of the unequaled tribulation (Mt 24:29-31; 2Thes 2:8; Rev 19:19-20) and the final and brief revolt at the end of the thousand years (compare Ps 110:1; Acts 2:34-35; 3:21; 1Cor 15:24-25; Heb 2:8-9; Rev 20:4-10 with Isa 24:22).
I think all of this has something to do with what scholars have called, “the already and the not yet”, referring to the mysterious tension between what has been both newly fulfilled and newly revealed versus what remains to be fulfilled in light of the ‘unexpected’ revelation of Messiah’s coming, departure, and return to Jerusalem. It is what Jesus called, “the mystery of the kingdom of God” (Mk 4:11), and Paul called, “the mystery of the gospel” (Ro 16:25-26; Eph 6:19 with 1Pet 1:11-12).
The revelation of the mystery made clear that the ultimate victory over Satan and the full bringing in of the kingdom on THIS present earth would be realized in stages.
