Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
Behold, I give unto you - not with a view to the renewal of their mission, though probably many of them afterward became ministers of Christ, but simply as disciples.
Power to tread on serpents and scorpions - the latter more venomous than the former. This was to be literally fulfilled at the first starting of the Gospel ministry (Mark 16:17-18; Acts 28:5). But the following words,
And over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you - show that what is meant is the glorious power of faith to "overcome the world" and "quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one," by the communication and maintenance of which to His people He makes them innocuous (1 John 5:4; Ephesians 6:16).