Sermon Tone Analysis

The Value of Salvation

Luke 7:36-50

I.                     Intro

a.        Great benefit of a capitalistic society- is choice-

                                                               i.

Comes competition

                                                              ii.

Comes lower prices

b.

Our choice of goods is then based upon what is called value

                                                               i.

You really want to get technical, the value of a product within the context of marketing means the relationship between the consumer's expectations of product quality to the actual amount paid for it.

It is often expressed as the equation:

*1.       **Value = Benefits ~/ Price  or  Value = Quality received ~/ Expectations*

                                                              ii.

Haircuts for instance

1.       Sonny’s $10

a.

For my wife, she would not find value with Sonny- she never liked my haircuts or for her, the quality received would and her expectations would be based upon the price- she would expect a ten dollar haircut

c.         Placing value on a product or service is a powerful element of marketing

                                                               i.

Once you are able to capture one’s emotional prowess to deem that they are receiving a value, a good deal, you have them

1.       McDonald’s and the Value Meal

a.        Cluster a burger, fries and drink, make a discount and call it a meal

                                                                                                                                       i.

You would just identify your choice by a number, made it as easy as possible

1.

Everybody followed suit, even Costco

2.       Then came the Super Sized Value Meal- we are Americans and more is better

                                                                                                                                      ii.

Movie came out- “Supersize Me”

d.

What is value?

*                                                               i.

**An amount, as of goods, services, or money, considered to be a fair and suitable equivalent for something else; a fair price or return.*

e.

One can not only define value in terms of economics but the idea can also extend over into other categories such as cultural, ethical, historical values and even moral values

                                                               i.

Simple question we will examine today is how much is your salvation worth to you?

Reading the Passage

Opening Prayer

II.

The Background

a.        Luke’s Gospel

                                                               i.

He was not an apostle, he was not even a Jew but a gentile

1.       His occupation was that of a physician

2.       He was a frequent companion of the Apostle Paul to until Paul’s martyrdom in Rome

                                                              ii.

His style in writing is that of a scholar, being highly educated, therefore the text is more difficult to read in Greek to his extensive knowledge of the vocabulary and language as in contrast to say the Gospel of John, who was a fisherman

1.       Luke was also a */meticulous historian/*, often giving in depth details of events that Matthew or Mark may miss in writing of similar accounts

                                                            iii.

The purpose of Gospel of Luke was to prove to the Gentile readers, those from the Pauline missions that the Word of God is true and is to be believed.

*III.

**The Invitation of the Pharisee, v. 36*

a.        Jesus’ ministry was gathering momentum, He has traveled from Judea where he was baptized, traveled north through Samaria and He is now in Galilee, the region of His home, Nazareth

b.

This specific event follows Jesus’ fellowship among publicans and tax collectors- where He calls Matthew into service as a disciple

                                                               i.

As His popularity is not only puzzling the Pharisees, this act of socializing w~/ tax collectors may have been the final straw- they were deemed traitors in the eyes of Jews

                                                              ii.

How could you profit from your own people, which is against the Mosaic law and also do it under the banner of Rome?

c.

Maybe the Pharisees had enough, the scriptures does not say that they colluded or conspired to trap Jesus, but Simon’s intentions are definitely calculating and this invitation is not one of genuine hospitality

 

*IV.

**The Repentant Woman, vv.

37-38*

a.        Who was this woman?

*/                                                               i.

/**/“a woman in the city who was a sinner”/*

1.       Woman of reputation- a harlot, a prostitute

                                                              ii.

Clarity as to who she was not

                                                            iii.

She was not Mary of Bethany, John12

a.        Another woman who poured perfume on Jesus and was criticized for it

b.

We know that because that took place in Bethany, which is located in Judea, near Jerusalem, which contradicts the location of this story

2.       Mary Magdeline

a.

The so called wife of Jesus according to Dan Brown and James Cameron

                                                                                                                                       i.

Mary Magdeline, who was a disciple of Jesus and was at the cross and at the grave was not a prostitute

1.

That was a misinterpretation made by the Catholic Church in a sermon by Pope Gregory the Great in 591

b.

She is not introduced to Jesus until the following chapter, 8

                                                            iv.

*/We will never know the name/* nor the identity of this woman- there may be a reason

1.       J.W. Sheperd, /The Christ of the Gospels/- The evangelistic record with delicacy withholds the name of the woman who was thus rescued by Jesus from a life of shame.

Without tearing away the veil of delicacy spread by the Gospel over the name of the woman, may we not recognize that it would be the very spirit of Jesus to take the despised but repentant woman who had fallen to a life so low, and raise her to the heights sublime to a life of purity and holy devotion to a holy devotion to Him?

a.

Is that not the glory of the Gospel?

i.

We are all wretched sinners, but when the power of the Gospel takes hold of our lives- everything is forgotten, everything is forgiven

1.       “Blessed is the man who sins are forgiven, whose trespasses are covered.

Blessed is the man whose sins the Lord will not give account”  - Romans 4:7-8

*/                                                                                                                                     ii.

/*Knowing what wretched sinners we were, we are to do the same, embrace those who repent and restore them in the */spirit of forgetfulness /*

*/b.

/*The Question might be asked, */“How did this woman enter the home of Simon?”/*

                                                               i.

It was customary in that day for outsiders to hover around during banquets so they could watch the “important people” and hear the conversation