Week 39 Luke
Usually temptation-toward-wrong just seems to bubble up spontaneously and mysteriously from some deep place inside. But sometimes it has outside help.
The Lord was thinking about just that kind of outsider-assistance temptation, thinking about some guy who maybe has a friend, and he prompts and encourages his friend toward wrong.
The Lord told his disciples: there will always be temptations to sin, but how terrible it will be for the person who does the tempting.
In a world where there are always temptations-toward-wrong it’s tough enough for a guy trying to manage his temptation. But when a Temptation Promoter comes along advertising and endorsing a temptation then the tempted-guy’s temptation-management problem gets harder.
Being a Temptation Promoter is pretty ugly. And pretty serious too. How serious? The Lord didn’t spell it out but he gave an example. Imagine being a Temptation Promoter. Imagine getting ferried ten miles off the west coast of Vancouver Island straight out into the big water and then imagine getting a concrete block tied around your neck and then imagine getting pushed overboard into the Pacific Ocean.
Try to imagine how bad that would be. Pretty bad. But the Lord said that getting dragged down into the cold dark would be a better fate than the actual (but not named) prospect that’s waiting for a Temptation Promoter.
Note: quote from Luke 17:1 (NLT)