What does Luke 10:19 mean?

Seventy-two of Jesus' disciples have returned from spreading the message that the kingdom of God is near. To validate their message, Jesus gave them power to heal diseases and injuries, but they are especially amazed that demons submitted to their word under Jesus' name. Jesus explains that those victories are a sign that God has already defeated Satan (Luke 10:9, 17–18).

Throughout Jesus' ministry, Jews thought He had come to return their political independence by driving out the Romans. After John the Baptist was born, his father, who was a priest, prophesied that the Jews would be "saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us" (Luke 1:71). Jesus reveals that the enemies are not the Romans, but "serpents and scorpions," or the powers of the enemy Satan—Satan-as-snake being linked to Genesis 3:14–15. As Jesus speaks to these selected followers, God's rescue is simultaneously full and has also just begun.

In the case of the disciples, the blessing also seems to be literal. When Paul was on the island of Malta, a viper bit him on the hand. While the locals stared, waiting for him to die, he merely shook the snake into the fire (Acts 28:3–6). Just as expelling demons is a sign that Satan is defeated, protection from snakes and scorpions act as a hint of the restored dominion over creation that humanity lost at the fall (Genesis 1:28). This does not mean, however, that snake-handling is a wise thing to do. Jesus gave this promise to those followers as a sign that verified His message. It does not apply to us, today.

In Mark 16:18, Jesus says something similar when giving the Great Commission after the resurrection: "…they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover." Mark 16:9–20, however, is not found in the earliest manuscripts of Mark's gospel and is not thought to be a true part of his gospel.