The Arrest with Pastor Ryan Braley

A moonlit garden. Torches, steel, and a kiss that turns friendship inside out. We revisit the arrest of Jesus through John’s Gospel and uncover a story that refuses to play by the rules of fear. From the opening theme of light shining in the darkness to the charged moment Jesus says “I am” and soldiers stumble backward, we trace how the scene echoes Genesis and signals a new creation rising in the very place night thinks it wins.

We talk about Judas leaving a lit table for the shadows, and why that choice still mirrors our pull toward control over community. We explore the reversal of Eden—humans searching for God in a garden—and the startling tenderness of Jesus calling the betrayer “friend,” offering a way back even as the torches close in. Then the focus shifts to power: an armed detachment for a poor rabbi, an overreaction born of anxiety, and the shockwave of presence that unsettles every script. When Peter swings his sword, Jesus names the cycle—live by it, die by it—and shows a better way that disarms without dehumanizing.

This episode weaves biblical theology, history, and practical discipleship to ask what kind of revolution actually lasts. Not a march on palaces, but a remaking of hearts that ripples outward—inside out rather than outside in. We reflect on nonviolence as courageous action, on the dignity‑restoring practices Jesus taught, and on how awe reframes our scale of worry. Above all, we return to John’s promise: the darkness is real, but it cannot overcome the light. If you’re carrying the Sunday scaries or headline dread, come stand with us in the garden and watch how love holds.

If this conversation stirred something in you, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review with the moment that stayed with you most. Your reflections help this community grow.

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

Transcript

Setting The Journey To The Cross

SPEAKER_01 0:00

To the cross, there's many scenes that go towards the cross. In some traditions, they call them the stations of the cross. And there's usually like 12 or 14 of those. But we're going to kind of condense it into like six, you know, sort of highlighted points along the way from the arrest to the resurrection of Jesus and kind of just journey alongside Jesus in these in the story. So here's how I want to kind of reintroduce ourselves to this story in uh in John's gospel about the arrest. I'm going to read it to you, and I want you to engage your imagination. So I want to have you close your eyes. By the way, the sermon title is called The Arrest. And I'm going to read the story using a different translation. And when I do, I want you to envision the story coming to life in your mind's eye. What are you noticing? What are you seeing? What sounds are you going to be hearing? Like let that bad boy run wild this morning. Maybe you're a bystander at the scene, just watching it happen. What might you even smell if you want to get really into it? And uh what's it like? What are the emotions you're feeling? What's it what's happening in the scene? Let it come to life. If you absolutely cannot like close your eyes, like, oh Ryan, I'll fall asleep or I'll get too distracted, then this is for you. This is you can just stare at this. This is this is uh Carvaggio's image of the arrest of Jesus. And so if you like need to have a visual, you know, image to stare at, stare at that while I'm reading the text. Otherwise, everyone else close your eyes and we'll read it together. And I will love to invite you to just have the text come alive in your mind's eyes. So we'll do that now. So I'll give you about 10 seconds to kind of get your just kind of close your eyes, get comfortable. It's not long, uh, and then I'll read you the arrest of Jesus. With these words, Jesus went out with his disciples across the Kidron Valley to a place where there was a garden. He and his disciples they went into the garden. Now Judas, his betrayer, knew the place because Jesus often used it as a meeting place with his disciples. So Judas took a band of soldiers with some servants of the chief priests and the Pharisees, and went there with torches and lights and weapons. Now Jesus knew everything that was going to happen to him. He went out to meet him and all of them. Who are you looking for? he asked them. They answered, Jesus of Nazareth, I'm the one, Jesus said to them. Now Judas, his betrayer, was standing there with them. So when he said, I'm the one, they all went back a few paces and fell down to the ground. Jesus repeated this question, Who are you looking for? He asks. So if you're looking for me, let these people go. Now Simon Peter had a sword, he drew it, and he hit the high priest's servant, cutting off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus. But Jesus says to Peter, Put your sword back in its sheath. Do you not imagine that I'm not going to drink of this cup that my father has given to me? Don't you realize that I could call on my father and have him send me more than twelve legions of angels, just like that? But then how can the Bible come true when it says that this has to happen? Jesus, we give you thanks this morning for your presence here. And we ask you to help us to enter into the story in a new and fresh way this morning. Give us eyes to see and ears to hear and soft hearts. We can recognize you in this story and in our lives this morning in Jesus' name. Amen. Jesus has a bunch of followers. One of them, they think it's his closest follower, disciple, friend. His name is John. John spends three years with Jesus and watches his life, his teachings. And of course, the arrest, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus, his dear friend. And so years later, after that, he writes a book about it. And after much deliberation, he thinks to himself, what should I call this book, this gospel according to myself, John? What should I call this gospel according to John? I know, I'll call it the Gospel according to John. And he's proud of this and he writes it down. And this is his version of what it meant for the whole world that Jesus lived, taught, did ministry, died, was buried, and resurrected, what it means for the whole world. And by the way, there's all kinds of themes in this Gospel of John. I love it. He's got many of them. One of them is light and darkness. Another one is gardens. There's light and darkness and gardens all throughout the Gospel of John. So this morning, I want to talk to you guys about those two things, really light and darkness. I guess that's two things, and then the third thing, and gardens. And watch for them as we talk about this this morning. Here's how John opens, in fact. Here's how John opens his gospel about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus and what it means for the whole world. Here's his opening line. He says, Hey, in the beginning was the word. The word was with God, and the word was God. We find out later that the word is actually what he's calling Jesus. So uh he was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made. Without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the what? Light of all humankind. The light, this light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. Yeah, no, by the way, he's quoting almost verbatim the opening of the very beginning of the Bible, Genesis 1, the creation, the original creation story. When that story opens, in the beginning, God creates the heavens and the earth. Oh now, here's the deal. Genesis also has very similar themes about light and darkness and gardens as well. See, in Genesis, light sort of comes onto the scene in the midst of the darkness. God begins to organize all this chaos and speaks light into the darkness, and then organizes a place uh for life, and it's called a garden. And he protects the life in there, and life is allowed to flourish. And so you have in even in Genesis, light and dark and gardens. What is John doing? As he's telling you his gospel about Jesus, he's uh connecting the dots between this story, Jesus, and his life, death, resurrection to Genesis 1. He's making all sorts of connections. And now, if you're a reader in the ancient world or a listener, you'd be like, oh my gosh, I know what he's doing. He's he's making all these connections. And uh, here are the connections. Again, um, in him was life, John writes. And that life was the light of all people. That light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it. This is John 1. Yeah, in other words, what you're about to hear uh is maybe a whole bunch of stories about darkness that seems to be infiltrating the world around us. And yet remember that even though the darkness is dark, it can never ever overcome the light. Are you with me? I'll say it again in case you missed it. Even though it's dark, the darkness can never overcome the light. The light always shines into the darkness, pushing back the darkness. So, John, in connecting the dots back to Genesis 1, he's sort of talking about a creation. Of course, Genesis 1 is about creation. God creates the world, speaks of the light and the darkness. There's a garden, a place of flourishing of life. And John is saying, hey, remember that story back there? I'm gonna tell it again. And this story about this guy, the word Jesus, is gonna be about a new creation or maybe a recreation. He's retelling this story. And in it, the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can overcome it. Now, this is important to remember that even though it's dark, the darkness can never overcome the light. I remind myself of this a lot when I'm online reading the comment section. Are you with me? It's pretty dark down there. I saw this video, or there's actually a picture of this golden retriever, oh, rescuing a kitten from a hole. Oh my gosh. And there were three blind nuns holding infants around the head, cheering the golden retriever. Like, oh. And of course, the first comment is, um actually. We see you down there, commenter. Even though it's dark, the darkness cannot overcome the light. Are you with me? Even though it's dark, the darkness cannot overcome the light. Somehow Edina has made it again to the state tournament. Come on. Good grief. The hand of God goal, I call this goal. Did you see this goal? Unbelievable. The the hockey gods have favored Edinho once again. Like those who need more help with life. I mean, am I right? Elk River, we're gonna next year's our year at Elk River, we're fine. Even though it's dark, the darkness cannot overcome the light. We had fake spring a couple days ago. And now it's freezing again. Even though it's dark, I'm telling you, the darkness can never overcome the light. Real spring's coming. I think it's coming tomorrow, so just hang tight. Uh even though it's dark, the darkness cannot overcome the light. I know tomorrow is Monday, I know it is. Many of you had the Sunday scaries, any Sunday scaries going on right now? I know it's early Sunday morning, but see, I get the Saturday scaries. I had mine yesterday. You guys, I'm sorry, I'm a day ahead of you. But even though it's dark, the darkness cannot overcome the light. Even though it's dark. The darkness cannot overcome the light. Are you with me? Even though it's dark, the darkness cannot overcome the light. Even though it's dark, the darkness can't overcome the light. By the way, I made this slide like two weeks ago. Have you watched the news the last couple of days? Maybe you came in here this morning, like, I'm worried about World War III happening while we're in church. I'm just telling you, even though it's dark, John wants you to remember that the darkness cannot overcome the light. So John opens this gospel by retelling the Genesis 1 story, at least quoting it. And he's telling you, hey, there's like a new creation, a recreation. Because the way things ended back here in Genesis, it didn't end so well. The old Adam didn't do a great job for a number of reasons, Eve as well. And perhaps John will introduce us to a new Adam who might reverse the curse, if you will, uh, from the Genesis 1 narrative. And this is just about light that comes into the darkness. This new Adam reversing things. And it, of course, I told you that it was a garden in John. John's first mention of a garden, because this is after all a sermon about light and darkness and garden, is in John 18:1 that opens our story that we talked about last week a little bit. Uh it says, Jesus had spoken these words, goes across the Given Valley where he was, uh there's a garden, and he and his disciples say enter into this garden. This is where he's arrested. So you could say it this way that this story of new creation and gardens and dark and light in John's gospel is reaching its climax. This is like the pinnacle moment here about Jesus, the light of the world, being arrested under the cover of darkness in all places, uh, but a garden. Yeah, that's what the story is about. Now, the last time we saw Judas, so Judas shows up with a bunch of armed guards, the last time we saw him, they were all together in the upper room. Judas, Jesus, all the disciples are hanging out, having a final meal together. And Judas has already betrayed his friend, his teacher, his rabbi, for 30 pieces of silver. By the way, that's the amount that you would buy a slave for, a common slave. So they see Jesus as nothing more than a common, ordinary slave. And Judas betrays his best friend. Meanwhile, they're at the table sharing a meal, and Judas is actually right next to Jesus. We know because they both reach their hands into the bowl and they can both reach it. Also, the place next to Jesus, who's the host, is the place of honor. Huh. Isn't that just like Jesus to put the betrayer, his friend who sold him out for a 30 piece of sword, right next to him in the place of honor? Hmm. That's grace if I ever saw it in action before in my life. Jesus knows that that's what Judas is going to do, so he tells him, Judas, go do what you came to do. Judas gets up from the table, and the text in John tells us he leaves. He runs out the front door, and then he says, And it was night. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Judas gets up from the table in this lit room. There's food and wine, and he's sitting with the light of the world, and he flees out into the darkness. I wonder how many of us, uh, when we find ourselves in darkness, it's it's not because we were like at this table with plenty of food and drink and community and people and love and the light of the world, and we got up for some crazy reason and ran out and ran ourselves into the darkness, looking for something that's not out there. But all the while we had this meal and community and Jesus and friends. And Judas runs out into the darkness, and they meet later, Judas and Jesus, in the garden, when Jesus is there praying with his disciples, and Judas shows up with this armed guard, with these armed guards. But it's like Genesis again, but backwards. So in Genesis, you have sinful humans hanging out in this garden after the rebellion of human beings, and God comes into the garden to find the sinful human beings. In John, you have sinful human beings coming to the garden looking for God. I'll see it again in case you didn't catch it. It's a reversal of Genesis 3, actually, where God comes into the garden looking for the sinful human beings. And in John's gospel, in this story, you have sinful human beings coming to the garden looking for God. But they don't know it's God. Yeah, John's sort of teeing it up. This is a reversal of the Genesis story. And this new Adam, who's there praying to the Father, this new Adam steps out to greet the old Adam who comes in to arrest him. I love it. Now, by the way, this old Adam, Judas, comes with some friends, and this is like a level 10 reaction, it's like a level zero infraction. Like he comes with this huge band of buddies. Like there's this Roman word here, it's like a detachment, is what they call, like a troop. It's like about a hundred or more soldiers from the Roman armies, which is crazy. And there's also some Jewish leaders there. It's a huge overreaction. They're coming to arrest a poor, singular, traveling Jewish rabbi who's like done nothing violent his whole life necessarily. And they're coming up with torches and weapons and like this mad mob to come and get him. It's like, what are we doing here? It's a huge, unnecessarily large group of people. Jesus even notices notices it too. And Jesus says, Oh, by the way, this is the Antonia fortress, right nearby in Jerusalem. They're in the Kidron Valley, they're across the Kidron Valley, just outside of Jerusalem, in the city. Um, there's this Roman garrison in the in the uh Antonia fortress. The Romans oversaw this whole area in Judea. The Romans were in charge. And the Romans could tolerate a lot of things, they could tolerate different religions. They could not tolerate anyone who didn't submit to the crown. Revolutionaries. So they had this guard, these uh at this at this fortress, they had these people that would watch out over the city of Jerusalem and watch for any uprisings. If there ever were revolutionaries or uprisings, they would squash it quickly and fiercely. And they would crucify you, they'd hang on a cross, and they would put you along the road into the cities to let people know hey, if you come into here, this Roman territory, and you revolt against the Romans, we're gonna kill you. So, right nearby is this Roman garrison. And Judas grabs some of these soldiers and they go into this garden with our, they're all armed, to arrest this Jewish rabbi. Like, what are we doing here? Years ago, I went hunting. I was bear hunting in Colorado with a mentor friend of mine named Dave, and uh we were black bear hunting, and he also had a small game license, but we had a 30-8-6. You know how big a 30-8-6 is? It's big enough to kill a bear, it's a big gun. And uh, we come across on this path, we're coming across not a bear, but we see a grouse like about 20 yards away, a small little bird. And all we had was the 30-8-6. He goes, Well, I have a small game license, let's try it. Oh, we shot it and we never found the bird. It's too much. It's too much. Like, that's too much. That was too big of a gun. Why would they come with this guy with weapons? He's a poor traveling Jewish rabbi. Jesus even says, Hey, have you come out here with swords and clubs to arrest me as though I were a robber? By the way, I love it. This word robber could also mean a plunderer. Am I a plunderer? I love that. How about this one? It could also mean a freebooter? I'm gonna start using that word, a freebooter. I love it. Anyone know what a freebooter is? A pirate. Yeah, it's a pirate. It's such a good word. What are you, a freebooter? Armatius, have you come out here with swords and I'm just kidding, I'm not gonna do that. Uh a brigand? I love that word. That's like an English word. What am I? A brigand? Am I a thief? A crook? That you come out here? How about a rebel? Is that what you you think I am? A rebel? I love it. Yeah. This isn't power. These men are afraid. They're afraid of a little singular, unarmed Jewish rabbi. Why? What are they afraid of? Jesus even says, hey, when I was with you guys in the daytime at the temple, you didn't arrest me then. Cowards. Why are you coming here under the cover of darkness? But this is your hour and the power of darkness. Yeah, these men come to arrest the light of the world under the cover of darkness in a garden. I think he's revolutionary. Now they're half right. Because he is there. He's causing an uprising, a total revolution that will up overturn everything in society and this whole world. It changes the course of human history. But they're only half right. Half right because most revolutions, think about like the French Revolution. Remember your history here, the Russian Revolution, even like the Chinese Cultural Revolution or the Iranian Revolution. These are revolutions, most of these ones in modern revolutionary history, they start by seizing the palace or marching on the capital and overthrowing the powers that be, amassing a military, or getting the military on your side, and we're gonna march on the city and we'll take over. It's an outside-in revolution. We're gonna overthrow the powers that be and we'll take their place. They're the bad guys, but we're the good guys. And they think that that's what he's up to. Now, Jesus is there to seize something, but he's not there to seize power like that. Jesus wants to seize people's hearts. He's going from the inside out. He wants to change lives, and like a ripple, like a wave, it'll just flow out from there and change the whole world. Jesus doesn't go outside in, he goes inside out. By the way, this works a lot better. Many of our revolutions in history, they don't always go so well. You overthrow one desk product leader, and guess who takes his place? Another one behind them. I was in Venezuela in 2002, and my wife and I were there. It was the only time I thought for sure I would die. I'm not kidding, I thought we were gonna die. And in there in April, in 20, and if you know your history and your Venezuelan history, um, Hugo Chavez, the president, was was ousted. They overthrew him as a coup d'etat in the capital, Caracas. Now we were in a town about six hours away, but uh the military overthrew the president. And for two days, it only lasted two days. Um, it was like terrifying. And um, the American government didn't recognize it as a revolution because we don't do that. Uh we don't encourage coups. And so they started shooting Americans in the Capitol. And like, we're gonna die down here. This is how my hero's journey is gonna go out. I'm gonna go out like this, you know. And uh in two days, they re-restored Chavez back to power. That didn't go so well either, though, you know, because if you know your history in Metasella, that's how they do it. But Jesus is here to change the world, and so his revolution goes from the inside out. Yeah, I love that. So then Judas comes to him, finds him, and he says, Hey, the one I kiss will be the one that you need to arrest. He's the one. Yeah. Now, by the way, in the ancient world, it wasn't that weird for men to kiss each other. But Judas is like perverting this friendship gesture. Hey, the one I kiss. And he even says, Hey, greetings, Rabbi. It's an ominous scene. And Jesus replies back to Judas. He says, Hey, my friend, what are you doing here? What are you doing here, Judas? When I was in high school, I got uh my life kind of went off the rails a little bit, and I got into these uh some bad habits and uh started parting a little bit towards the latter part of it. And then um when I when I graduated, I'm like, if I go to college right away, I'll I will make things ten times worse. So I'm gonna go to this thing called YWAM, Youth with a Mission. It's like a discipleship training school, missionary training school, like a Christian school. Like, I'm gonna go there and figure stuff out. So I go there and I figure it out, met Katie, and my life began to change, kind of like, you know, revert back to like, you know, uh how it was maybe intended to be. And and uh it was all good. And and uh I gave up all those old habits and patterns and uh partying and drinking and so on. Went to Africa, did a mission strip, it was awesome, changed my life. Came back that summer, almost immediately got right back into my old habits again. And one night I'm at a party and we're drinking and people everywhere, and and my sister's friend, who was younger, like about two years, she was younger than us, her life was crazier than mine. She was doing all kinds of crazy stuff. I didn't know it, but when I was at YWAM, she got cleaned up. She comes rolling into this party, and I see her, like, oh, she's a party. I'm like, what's up? What's up, Melissa? Or something like that. And she looks at me and she goes, Ryan, what are you doing here? I was like, well, I'm partying. Whatever I said, I don't know what I said, but I was like, oh, we're having a good time. And she goes, I thought you got your life together. I was like, well, I thought you were a friend. I thought we were like partying together. She's like, no, no, I got clean, man. What are you doing here? And immediately I was like, uh, oof, guilt. And she, you know, I went to the garage, I got my phone, I called Katie. Oh, Katie, I need you to pray for me. Jesus is offering him a way out. You could also say that Jesus was saying, Hey, my friend, do you really want to do this? Do you really want to do this? Man, some of you need to hear me say to you right now, what are you doing here? Look at me. Especially if your heart's kind of racing, like, do you really want to do this? All this junk you think will give you life. Do you really want to do this anymore? Jesus is offering him a way back. Back to the light. Even now. And notice he calls him friend. Which means that even now, in this moment of betrayal, not even Judas is beyond the love of God and the grace of Jesus. Even in this now, this is a cloud over it for sure. But even here, friendship for Jesus doesn't stop with betrayal. He still offers him a way back. Why? Because the darkness is dark, but the darkness cannot overcome the light. And even now, Jesus offers him a way back. Is this what you want to do? Is this what you want to do, Judas? And they ask him, actually, Jesus asks them, he says, uh, hey, who is it you want? And they say, Jesus of Nazareth. And he says, uh, I am he. Actually, in the Greek, it's not, they added the he just to make it sort of clearer in English. He actually just says this, I am, which is pretty dope. It's like a mic drop moment. He's quoting God in the most famous story, one of them in the Hebrew Bible, when God is speaking to Moses way back when in the burning bush. And the burning bush, God says to Moses, hey, I'm gonna send you to deliver my people from uh they're enslaved in Egypt. Go save them. And Moses is like, okay, cool, great. Uh, nice to meet you. And what should I what should I what should I call you? Who should I tell them sent me? And God says in Hebrew, of course, Eyah Asher Eyah, which means like, which means something like being is being. So it's sort of rendered oftentimes like God says, Well, here's my name, uh, I will be what I will be. Or it could also be rendered, I am that I am, or really like, uh, I am who I am. And Moses is like, oh, that's great. That clears it up. Do you have a nickname like Bobby or Timmy or something? Like, come on, what are we doing here? You know? He also could be saying something something like, hey, I am the one who is being itself. Uh, some theologians call God the ground of all being. I love it. Jesus is quoting God and saying in John's gospel, I am being itself. These folks have wandered into a garden with armed weapons, encountering the living God, and they don't know it. And what happens? I love their response. Uh if I can get to it, hang on. They all fall over. Just for illustration's sake, this is what happens to them. Just wanted to make sure you knew what was going on in the story. Is that clear? They fall over. These are Roman guards. This is a Roman troop. These men have have had battles. They are tough, they're gritty, they haven't showered in probably months, you know. They eat dirt and and and twigs and berries. I don't know if that's true or not, but these are hardened men and they fall over on the ground. One of them, though, wisely, one of the guards, he he has to save face, so he quickly remembers this old trick. He rolls over and he goes, 99, 100, 101, 102. What are you guys doing down here? I'm just doing my push-ups.

SPEAKER_00 26:12

That's what happens when you get push-ups. Yeah, I love it. They uh do this.

Inside‑Out Revolution Of Jesus

SPEAKER_01 26:24

They have a divine encounter and they fall over. This is what happens when you encounter the living God. Many people lose their footing. Ask Abraham, who meets God and falls over. Ask Moses, who meets God and falls on the ground. How about Joshua meets God, falls to the ground? How about Manoah and Manoah's wife, our favorite Old Testament character is, am I right? Yes. They fall to the ground and judges. Job meets God, falls to the ground. Ezekiel sees God in the sky, falls to the ground. Peter, James, and John on the Mount of Transfiguration meet God. They fall on their ground, on the ground. Peter falls to the ground. Saul falls to the ground, is blinded, can't eat for three days, falls to the ground. John, my favorite. John says this when I saw him, I fell at his feet as though I was dead. Listen, when you meet God, it's hard to keep your footing. And many times you fear, terror, awe overwhelms us when you encounter the living God. It's this unexplainable thing. There's like this moment like what you thought was real and possible just shatters right in front of you. Like all things like you're off the table or on the table, either which way. And like you're overwhelmed by the vastness of your own insignificance. You're not that big of a deal. You're not that strong. You couldn't even stand up. And also you're like encountering this profound mystery. Like, what is this? What is this life? What is happening? 36 years ago, uh, at the behest of Carl Sagan, not the Carl Sagan here, but the other Carl Sagan, uh, NASA turned Voyager 1 goes out into space, and they're 3.7 billion miles away from Earth. And Carl Sagan's like, hey, have them turn the camera around and take a photo of Earth. Have you seen this picture? And so he does it. They're like, yeah, Carl Sagan, whatever Carl Sagan wants, Carl Sagan gets. And so they turn the camera around on Valentine's Day, 36 years ago. And here's what they picture they take of Earth. That's Earth, you guys. You're on there. All your problems and your worries and your concerns. Oh, and you were so worried, like, what does it mean that my friend liked my post but didn't comment on it? What does that mean? And you were so embarrassed because you're at the theater and the theater helper is like, hey, enjoy the show. And you go, You too? Oh my gosh, they're not even going to the show. I'm going to the show. What an idiot I am. What a moron. And you're still thinking about that comment you made at a dinner party back in 2018 on that random Friday night in Shakapee. And you it like haunts your dreams. That's Earth! But we gotta get our hair just right, don't we? I know I do. Because I'm so special. And you're still worried, like your kid struck out looking in the seventh inning to lose the game against St. Francis at a tournament on some random July Tuesday five years ago. What are we doing? That's Earth! Look how big your problems look there. Oh, that's so cute. You're so sweet. What are we worried about? The light has come into the world and the darkness cannot overcome it.

unknown 29:31

Yeah.

The Kiss, Friendship, And A Way Back

SPEAKER_01 29:32

And they all fall over to the ground. Peter, though, knows the bro code. And I'm almost done, I promise. You know the bro code. If your boy gets into a fight, now you're in a fight. You know what I'm saying? Hey, uh it's time to go. I don't advocate, I'm just saying it's what the bro code is. I'm not saying that. So Peter gets his sword out. This is his response. I love it. And he takes the sword out and he swings it and cuts off the high priest's ear. Now it could be that he was trying to kill the guy and just missed him, like misses head and cuts his ear off. Maybe. Uh, which case Peter's a bad. Maybe though. Maybe he remembers the old Levitical law. He would have used a Jew. In Leviticus, if there's ever a temple worker, a priest or an assistant that gets maimed or mutilated, they can no longer work in the temple. So Peter could be like, yo, homie, you mess with my that's it, you're done. No more work for you in the temple. Cuts his ear off. That guy's livelihood is gone now. It also could be a symbolic gesture, like any priest who comes into here to arrest the Son of God is not fit for service in the temple. You shouldn't be spiritually serving anybody, dude. Do you know who you're arresting? Could be that as well. Either way, in Luke's gospel, Jesus heals his ear. Not in John's, though. In John, he bleeds out. No, I'm kidding. Yeah. And Jesus sees, I love his response, put your sword away. Those who draw the sword will die by the sword. In other words, when you respond with violence to violence, it just perpetuates more violence. We know this is true. I'm not going to comment on the global scale and politics. I'm not the president or a king or whatever. I'm just telling you, Jesus, it only perpetuates more violence. And look at our history. This war will finally get used to. No, no, this war will find, no, no, this war. Here's the thing about this: Jesus' call to nonviolence, it actually allows the other person a chance to be transformed and healed if they allow it. When you respond with violence, they never have a chance to apologize or make things right or seek healing, which they need desperately. It just perpetuates more violence. Oh, you respond with violence? Okay, no, I was right, I was justified. But if you respond in a unique and different way, it can shake them up and allow them to apologize or make things right or be transformed. Like if you were to say, if a guard came and said, hey, they stole your coat, maybe give them the tunic underneath it as well. See, Jesus tells them that because he knows most of them were poor peasants. They only had two layers of clothing on. They had a tunic underneath and then a coat over that. Underneath all that was just what the Lord gave them. You know what I'm saying? So if someone came, hey, give me your coat, no problem. You want my coat? I'll give you everything. What's up now? How do you like me now? And in the ancient world, if you saw a naked person, which they'd be stark naked, it brought shame on you. Oh, it's like flips the script. Jesus' like, hey, look, don't return more violence with more violence, but hey, kind of like take your power back, return the dignity back to you, put the shame on them. Same with, hey, if they take, if they make you go a mile, go another mile. Because just stick it to them, you know? If they punch you, turn the other cheeks. So they now have to face you like an equal. Yeah, it shakes them up and allows them to finally be transformed. If you live by the sword, you'll die by the sword. Here's the deal: every human strategy in this scene doesn't work. Judas, the betrayer, the controller, doesn't work. Peter, the violence, and the I'm the good guy, they're the bad guy, doesn't work. The disciples, they all run. The self-preservation doesn't work. The soldiers' power, command, control doesn't work. Only thing that works is Jesus. Jesus, like, hey, I know the plan of the Father. I know I'm here. I trust the Father. I'll do what the Father tells me to because I know, even though it's dark, I know that darkness cannot overcome light. I know it. I know it. So I'm gonna go. And in this non-anxious way, Jesus goes. The gospel's not one more strategy to add to your life and your self-help book rack. It's not. It's when you finally come to the end of all your strategies that don't work. The gospel says, hey, even betrayers are welcome here. And I will heal you and fix you. Central, may you know today that though it's dark, the darkness cannot overcome light. It doesn't work that way. Can't do it. And even though it seems like it's man, it's dark, I know, I know, I know. But it doesn't win. Light always wins. May you know that even betrayers are welcome at the table of God. And friendship is still extended even to the worst of the worst. And may you know today and tomorrow and the next day, that even though it's dark, the darkness can overcome the light. Amen.