Central Lutheran Church - Elk River

The Arrest with Sonja Knutson

• Central Lutheran Church

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Lanterns cut the night air, feet pound the garden path, and a friend steps forward with a kiss. We walk into Gethsemane and face the question that sits under every hard moment: when pressure closes in, do we meet it with chaos or with calm authority? A sudden change of plans put a different voice at the mic, but the path stayed the same—straight toward the cross and the arrest that set everything in motion.

We unpack the charged scene where Jesus names himself—“I am he”—and the crowd staggers backward. That phrase doesn’t just identify a man; it rings with the divine name, rooting courage in God’s presence. From there the contrasts sharpen: soldiers swarming while a Savior shields his friends, a blade flashing as Peter reaches for force, and a healing touch that restores an enemy’s ear. We look at how protection, restraint, and obedience come together in one steady posture that refuses collateral damage, even in the dark.

Along the way, a tender story of a third-grade accusation—complete with a missing troll-head pencil and a mother’s defense—grounds the theology in everyday life. We talk about Judas’ kiss as a prearranged signal, how betrayal can dress like care, and why Jesus still allows it without losing his center. The geography matters too: a garden of prayer beside the Kidron Valley of sorrow, echoing David’s grief and pointing to Jesus’ path through pain toward purpose. This is a guide for anyone who feels misunderstood, tested, or tempted to swing first and think later.

If you’re longing for practical faith under fire, this conversation offers a way forward: name reality without rage, protect people over pride, and trust the larger story God is writing. Listen, share it with someone who needs calm in their storm, and leave a review so more people can find hope on the road to the cross.

Join us! Facebook | Instagram | www.clcelkriver.org


SPEAKER_00:

Guess what? I am not Ryan Brayley. Ryan is sick today, and I've worked with this man for just shy of 20 years, and this has never happened to him, especially on a Sunday morning. So you know he's really sick if he's not up here preaching and teaching, because it's one of his favorite things to do. I got a text about 1.40 in the morning last night. My phone was on, do not disturb, so I didn't get the text. And then I woke up at 5 15 this morning, which was my normal time, and at 4 43, he's like, I'm still puking. You have to cover. I'm like, ha. So I'm like, no problem, I'll just call Ben. He's the new pastor, right? And Ben's in Florida at Disney World. Nobody's surprised with that one, are we? Again, no problem. What can I talk about in a few hours? I know we could play a new game. What does Ryan's slides say? Because sometimes if he's just flipping slides up, we're like, I need context there. I don't I don't know what that means. But we're gonna try it. Fair? Okay. Mark's gonna show us a couple slides. Now think of what you just heard from Elliot. My friend, do you really want to be do this? I can say no. Like, I don't want to be doing this right now. But in the idea of the sermon, and Jesus, we heard is arrested. What do you think that means? My friend, do you really want to be doing this? Next slide. Next slide. Shoes? Hmm. Why would he have used a shoe slide? He's in the garden. I don't know. Little David at the last service is like, uh, they're not appropriate slides. Those are too cont uh sandals, those are too contemporary, he said, for that time. Because you know, they were probably wearing sandals at that time. Next slide. Hmm. Jesus is being kissed. This is a great party. Any idea? Judas, very good. We heard that. Well, did we hear that in this reading? We just know the story. And thank goodness that was one of my prayers this morning. Is like, thank goodness we know this story. Pretty much. We've heard about this story. So we can just like talk about it and work through it together. And I'll just bring a chair up, right? And we'll have a discussion, an open conversation, right? Are you there with me? Great. Let's go get my chair. No, we actually are starting a new series today, and we're going to be walking through to the cross, the journey to the cross. And today's story was Jesus is arrested. Next week, we're going to hear about how he is tried and sentenced. And then the following week, Simon carries his cross. The following March 15th, I'm preaching on Jesus is mocked. And then we hear how Jesus is consoled by his mother. Jesus died and is buried. And then we are blessed with the new beginning of Easter. Amen. This is exactly where we should be during the Lenten season as we're walking and journeying towards the cross. And it's great reminders for us, not only of this story, but where do we see ourselves in this story? But I want to begin with prayer. Will you pray with me? Father, we do give you thanks and praise for this day. We pray for Ryan. Uh, this man loves you so much. He loves teaching and preaching. He loves your word. He loves digging in it and telling us in different perspectives what your word means and how we can apply it to his life. For him to miss today, God, we know he is not feeling well. And so we pray that you heal his body, you give him the rest that he needs, you bring him back to us safely, you keep his family safe and his community safe. And we pray for Katie, who recently lost her grandmother. And as she mourns her loss and her dad, Bob, and their extended family, and they prepare for that funeral service, God, we ask that you would give this peace in its entirety your peace and calm. In your name we pray. Amen. So to summarize what Elliot shared earlier, we hear in this story that Jesus is in the garden praying as soldiers come towards him, and Jesus displays a sovereign authority during his arrest in the Garden of Gethesme. Knowing what was coming, he confronts the armed mob, and upon declaring that I am he, the soldiers fall to the ground, and Jesus intentionally protects his disciples, ensuring their safety before submitting to his voluntary arrest. He submitted to a voluntary arrest. Have you ever been accused of something that you didn't do? Kind of a sick feeling, isn't it? Or even a really sick and sad thought. Have you ever been accused of something you didn't do? When I was in third grade, my parents had walked through a divorce, and we were living in Iowa, and my mom moved the three kids, myself, my brother, and my sister, up to Minnesota. Brand new school, brand new setting, brand new everything, and we were scared to death. I remember being the only third grader that had divorced parents. So it's like feeling a label. Not only are you the new kid, but you have divorced parents, you're not wearing the right clothes. Everything felt felt very heavy. But I was fortunate to make a really good friend. His name was Homer Perez, and he liked me. Like, I mean, he liked me. Like, you know, like he liked me so much we could play out at recess time and we played tether ball and we played soccer and he chased me the way that boys that like you chased you, and we would swing on the swing. We were besties from day one. Homer Perez, my first love. And then we raced each other in the 50-yard dash, and I beat him. And our friendship was done just like that. Well, a couple weeks later, there was a pencil stolen from one of the cubbies, and it was the pencil that had the little troll heads with the tethered hair. Remember? You do this, you squish. You don't remember, Tim? I'm so sad for you. It was a little troll and had this great fuzzy hair, and you'd you'd squish it up with your hands. It was like nice, pointy, and you'd spin your pencil, and the hair would go, remember? It was the best. Well, one was stolen, and I got accused of stealing it. I did not take the pencil. I had enough problems in my third grade life. I didn't need to steal things. But Mrs. Livingston, I pray for her often because no teacher should ever do this, right, Jackie Holand, when you hear this. She brought me to the front of the class in third grade, and she accused me in front of the class because someone had told her I took the pencil. That was my trial, that was my ascensions, and I was arrested immediately. And I stood there firmly and said, I am. No, I didn't. I cried my eyes out. I felt terrible. I didn't know what to do. I cried. She sent me down the hallway to the principal's office. And in the principal's office, I cried some more. I kicked, I screamed, I tried to tell them I didn't do it. And then they called my mom in. And my mom, bless her heart, defended me. If my daughter tells you she didn't do it, she didn't do it. And we went home. A couple days later, Homer Perez couldn't take it, and he admitted that he lied and he took the pencil. Jealousy will get you every time over a 50-yard dash. As we moved into the Lenten season during that time period, I was sitting in the pew with my mom. We'd go to church all the time on Sundays, and in the Lenten season, it was like every Wednesday, and we never hit anything. And I remember hearing this story, and I leaned over to my mom who was sitting next to me in the pew, and I whispered to her, That was me. I was arrested. And I thanked her for saving me. She trusted me, and that value of trust grew in my heart from that day on. Now let's go back to the story. Imagine for a moment that Jesus gently awakened his sleeping disciples for the final time in the garden. In a place that I'm sure brought him much peace and tranquility. It was most likely late in the night or early in the morning, maybe about 1 a.m. The garden had been quiet, but suddenly the mood changed as the tramping of several hundred men filled the night space with lights and lanterns and torches, as we heard. These men who were soldiers and Pharisees and Sadducees and Jewish police, all led by Judas, who was a man who was supposed to be Jesus' friend. And as Ben reminded us on Wednesday, all for 30 coins. And what was their purpose? To arrest Jesus. And from this point on, little would ever be the same. Chaos in the moment hit, but Jesus in this stayed calm with overwhelming majesty and dignity. He did not try to run. He walked calmly towards the men, clearly in charge. What a scene. Think of what your response might be in this. Third grade Sonia cried and kicked and screamed. And I kind of believe that 60-year-old Sonia would do the same. What would your response be? There was so much going on. Can you imagine? It starts with the guy sleeping with him in the garden. What would your response be to these disciples? The only thing he asked of them is, stay awake, watch over me, watch over this while I pray. And they fell asleep. My response would be, I need new friends. Amen. What about Judas leading these pack of men? I wonder if that's what that slide was that we saw earlier when he asked, What my friend, what are you doing here? I would think to ask that. If I'm Jesus and I see Judas coming forward me with three or six hundred men, what are you doing here? What about the chaos that erupted in the garden? What would your response be to that? Or to the lies and to the accusations? It's one thing if you know you do something wrong and you're accused fairly. You may be mad that you got caught, but your heart and your mind should think, yeah, I kind of had that coming. I have a friend here at Central who shares often stories of her alcoholic and drug banges that she has lived most of her life with. And she got caught many times. One particular time she got caught, and her children, her family, was removed from her. But as hard as it was for her to walk through the chaotic time and walk through prison time and losing her kids and trying to build her life back up, she has commented to me several times, I had that coming and I needed to hit bottom or be caught and arrested to turn my life around. Her life was chaos all the time. And in this story, the chaos was there, but they had the story wrong. And Jesus stays calm and cool and collected. He goes voluntarily and willingly, despite knowing his impending betrayal. And he goes with the divine authority. When he says, I am, a phrase that echoes God's name, and when they hear these Greek words email, which means I am, they all fall back. The arresting soldiers in Judas are knocked backward, our reading shares. Some commentaries explain it like this: a supernatural power was suddenly released that was so strong it literally knocked an entire band of three to six hundred soldiers backward and down to the ground. It was as if an invisible bomb had been detonated. So much explosive strength was realized that the power knocked the soldiers flat back on their on their backs. They had heard the words before, and it wasn't the only time Jesus had used them. In John 8 and in John 13, he uses it to identify himself as well. But also the hearers of the day would have immediately recognized the words as the every the words that God used to identify himself when he spoke to Moses on the mount in the Exodus story. What power words have in our lives? Emay, I am. What power? It's a good reminder for us, knowing the power of our words that we can have over people. But that's a sermon for another day. His words and authority were spoken a few times as he asked the crowd, Who are you looking for? And they say, Jesus of Nazareth. And again, Jesus states, I am he. And in John 18, 7, he continues to say he was calm, confident, and authoritative, but also he is protective over his friends, his disciples, and the mob, and his followers, and even Judas in an odd way. It reads, Whom do you seek? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus answered, I told you that I am he. So if you seek me, let these men go. This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken. Of those whom you gave me, I have lost no one. He's telling them, It's my job to protect everyone, and to this point I have lost no one. And then our beloved Peter does a very Peter thing, if you know Peter from the story. Simon Peter from John 18, 9 through 11, it reads, Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the highest priest's servant and cut off his right ear. So Jesus said to Peter, Put your sword away. Shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me? In other words, dang dude, don't act like that. I know my path, and this is what God wants for me, and I am here to take it on for you, for all of you, and I trust him. And according to the book of Luke, the ear is healed with the touch of Jesus' hand. Jesus is loving and protecting. All he has committed his life to even accepts the kiss of Judas. In the books of Matthew and Mark, we read, Now the betrayer, which was Judas, has given them a sign saying, Whomever I kiss, he is the one, sees him. Immediately Judas went to Jesus and said, Greetings, Rabbi, and he kissed him. Now, one might think, if you didn't know the backstory, that Judas, seeing and being a part of this chaos, is probably kissing Jesus to say goodbye, or I feel bad for you, or I'm here for you. But Judas is kissing him as a prearranged deceptive signal to confirm Jesus is the man that the guards are looking for. Jesus knew this, don't you think? Don't think that he wasn't naive. And he allowed it to happen, to love in a way to protect Judas from the guards, not from himself, but from the authorities, as later we read that Judas took his own life. Jesus is a loving and a protecting father that guards, protects, and allows us to make mistakes, but reminds us that he is here with us always. Remember last week's sermon, Ryan shared that he is always with us. When we are struggling, he is there. When we fall into the ways of the world, he is there. When we cut off the ears of those that hurt us, he helps us pick up the pieces and glue them back on. When we turn our backs on him in sin and betrayal, he waits for our repentance and he meets us there. But often we fall into the Judas ways. When my oldest son Philip was three years old, we belonged to a church in Big Lake called Sarn Lutheran Church, and my husband was on council. We were a very active family in the church, and my son, everybody kind of knew because he was quite voistress, in a good way, Pastor Larson came to him and said, Would you like to be there the day that we break ground, that we start to dig the dirt for this new building? Well, of course, he was all about that. I've told this story before, but for those who have not heard this, he was have given a golden shovel, little one, and he carried that shovel proudly through the first service and in between the services, and it finally came time to dig the hole. He took his golden shovel out there and he was waiting his time. And a little boy came up to him and is asking him about the shovel. Philip's like, it's my shovel. I get to dig the dirt, I get to break the ground. And the boy took the shovel from him. And Philip, in his prime three-year-old ways, kicked the little boy. Well, Pastor Larson is observing all of this. He's like, Philip, it gets down to his level. You probably shouldn't have done that. Is that a loving way? Is that what Jesus would do? And Philip said, No, but Judas would have. You know, they take from the word what they want, right? Don't we all? But Pastor Larson, the loving man that he was, again stayed with him at his level, explained the difference between Judas' ways, the world ways, and Jesus' ways, and how should we react to chaos, which is what this story is all about. This didn't happen just in any ordinary place either. Think of where Jesus was when this story took place. It was in a garden. How many of you love to garden?

unknown:

I love to garden.

SPEAKER_00:

I love to dig in the dirt and smell the dirt and plant beauty and dig up weeds, and it reflects so much of my own life. But there also, just like Jesus, I spend a lot of my time praying and talking to him and telling him the ways things should be in my life. Jesus started this journey in the garden over prayer and over peace. But just across the path was this place called Kidron Valley. The garden for Jesus was a place of peace and calm. But this place, the Kidron Valley, if you know the word, reflects back to a time that wasn't so peaceful, a time with King David and betrayal in the Old Testament. This was a place that was pivotal in David's life, representing a boundary of crisis and transition. When David crossed the Kidron Valley while weeping and fleeing from his son during betrayal, it was marked by human sorrow and grief. And this is where we find Jesus. They mirrored each other. And Jesus knew that. At this time, it was a place where he would be marked by sorrow and grief and betrayal as well. It was a time and a place of rejection and judgment. But also it was going to be a time of new beginnings, a place, as he stated in John 18, 9, where he would carry out God, his Father's will. Friends, this story of Jesus' arrest finds me, at least, in a place of confusion and frustration. It's a story that I find myself asking, what would I do and what side of the crowd would I be on in moments of arrest that aren't truthful? Would I jump on the bandwagon and be angry and yell and scream and add to the chaos? Or would I bring a calm? Would I live in his divine authority and majesty, recognizing that he has power over our life in so many areas that we don't allow him to have power in? Or would I reject him, like Peter? Central, this story reminds me that in my unclear truths, I can lean into the divine authority of Jesus, his steadfast calm in my life. And as we move closer to the cross during this Lentin season, I can look to my faith for strength, knowing that no matter what I face in hard times, Jesus was accused, arrested, mocked, he was beaten, and he died so I could be saved and live a calm life. Amen.

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Ryan Braley

Host