The topic on the table this morning is prayer. Abraham prays for Sodom and Gomorrah. Jesus teaches His disciples to pray, giving them the words for prayer, a parable about prayer, and some encouragement to pray.

Prayer is one of those least common denominator religious activity. Whenever people get religious, prayer is involved. People who are “spiritual without being religious” usually pray, or at least meditate, or thing “God-ward” thoughts.

What do you do when you have important company coming over to your house? What would you do if you knew that Jesus was coming over to your house? Maybe bringing a few of His friends along with Him? Of course, you’d clean, scrub, polish, plan a nice menu, go shopping, maybe bake something for a special dessert. You probably be busy for days before preparing for the big day when Jesus showed up. And when He did, you’d be just as busy as before, stirring pots, making sauces, dressing the salad, warming the bread.

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.