Personal Reflection: Holly Dahlstrom (group viola & violin)

When we sat down last Monday night to discuss John 12-15, so many different parts stood out to me. There are verses that applied to the disciples 2000 years ago and those same verses apply to our lives here, today, at Seattle Pacific. In John 13:7, Jesus tells Simon Peter, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” This constantly rings true in my own life. I never see at the time the work that God is doing in my life, but once it is finished, I understand. When Jesus was washing the feet of the disciples, they didn’t understand, but it was later made clear.

Jesus washing their feet is one of the most beautiful pictures in the Bible. Here He is, the Son of God, and he is stooping to the lowest task of washing the feet of his own disciples. Just like entering Jerusalem on a donkey, this was another act of humility. Our challenge at group is to do the same thing, to be humble and tear down the walls of pride that so often separate us from those close to us. Jesus came to the level of the disciples and he was honest with them. There is a harsh transition when He explains that He is about to leave them. The whole book of John has been building up to Jesus’ triumphal entry and that dramatic build up ends when Jesus says in 13:33 “My children, I will be with you only a little longer.”

I can’t imagine what it would have felt like to hear those words from the mouth of Jesus. But Jesus explains quite clearly that His death will result in something better. He explains the hope they are able to find in him. He is, once again, expressed as light in the darkness and the disciples are told to “put their trust in the light while they have it, so they may be sons of light.” Above all else, we are called to love. If only one thing comes out of Wednesday night, it is my hope that we will understand how important it is to love. Love is how we are able to go on each day and we are commanded specifically to love. John 15:17 “This is my command: LOVE EACH OTHER.”

--Holly Dahlstrom