Love God, love your neighbor. It sounds simple, right? In fact you can summarize the entire Law of God in one little four-letter word: Love. What could be more simple than that? Or is it that simple? Not when the lawyers get a hold of it.

A lawyer, an expert in the Torah, came up to Jesus in order to test Him. That was his first mistake. Test Jesus, and you yourself will be tested. He will shatter your presuppositions and topple your notions. This lawyer was an expert in biblical principles, in making the law doable, practical, relevant to today’s living. He believed that with the right combination of knowledge and discipline, one could keep the law of God. And so testing Jesus he asks him the key question: What shall I do to inherit eternal life? That’s the question on the table this morning with the parable of the man who fell among the thieves and the kind Samaritan who rescued him.

The days drew near for Jesus to be taken up. That means be crucified, rise from the dead, and ascend into heaven. That was His purpose, HIs mission. That’s why He came in the flesh, born of the Virgin. That’s why He was circumcised under the Law and became obedient to it. That’s why He was baptized in the Jordan. He came to be “taken up,” and to take us up together with Him. And so He set His face resolutely to go to Jerusalem. His gaze was like a laser beam, zeroed in on Jerusalem and His appointed hour.

OK, let’s admit it up front. Today’s Gospel reading is just plain weird. Weirder than weird. It was weird enough when Jesus stilled the storm with a word from a boat on the sea of Galilee. When they landed on the other side in the country of the Gerasenes opposite Galilee, things took a really weird turn. No sooner did Jesus’ feet hit the beach, then He was confronted by a man from the city who was possessed by demons. That’s right. Demons. Not just a single demon, which was what Jesus had been dealing with so far. But a literal “Legion” of demons, which is considerably more than a handful.

Much forgiveness, much love. In today’s Gospel reading, the one who who is forgiven much and loves much is a “woman of the city,” a streetwalker, a prostitute who happens to crash in on a dinner party at the house of a prominent Pharisee named Simon.

Jesus was on the road from Capernaum. He had just healed a centurion’s servant with nothing but a word. He hadn’t even shown up at the door or touched the man. In fact, the centurion insisted that Jesus not come to his house, for he didn’t consider himself worthy of the honor. “Only say the word, and my servant shall be healed.” Faith clings to the Word. Jesus marveled at this man’s faith, a faith not found in Israel. In an outsider. A Gentile. A Roman soldier no less.