Sharing Jesus

“This is what is written and so it must be: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations….” Luke 24:46-47 

The upper room had started out as a place of fear and despair. Having seen their Teacher arrested, convicted, and crucified, the apostles withdrew to what they hoped would be a secure hiding place. Behind locked doors, they sat in fatalistic wonder at what their lives would now be. The hoped for Messiah was dead. He had raised others from death, but no great prophet had ever raised himself from death. Fear crippled them as they anticipated their own arrest and execution. It was better to lay low and wait for the upheaval to die down. Then perhaps they could slip away into the cover of the crowds leaving Jerusalem. 

The upper room soon became a place of peace and promise. Jesus appeared to the disciples announcing the peace of God to them. He placated their need for proof that it was He by having them touch the nail marks and His wounded side. He ate fish and honey to show that He had risen bodily and that He was no mere ghost. He was not dead. He had risen from the grave. He had, as He had claimed so often in His ministry, mastery over death. 

Jesus then opened the Scripture to them. Through the law of Moses, the writings of the prophets, and the lyrics of the psalmists, Jesus brought His disciples the true and lasting proof they really needed. He showed them beyond a shadow of a doubt that He had to suffer and die and rise from the dead on the third day. And as the Holy Spirit worked through His proclamation, the disciples stopped their doubting and their unbelief. They believed and confessed and would witness to others the fact that Jesus has risen from the dead. 

The upper room became a place of purpose. The disciples were not to hide their joy in the resurrection. Jesus wanted their joy to compel them to action. They were to continue the work of the prophet John the Baptist. They were to continue to preach repentance. They were to continue to expose the sin in the lives of all people and in doing so create the emptiness that needs to be filled. Then, they were to continue to preach the gospel, to teach all that their sins are forgiven, that their risen Lord has covered them with His blood, that through faith they are righteous before God. This is the only truth that would fill the emptiness. 

The upper room becomes a place of promise and peace and purpose for us as well. As we hear the testimony of the gospel writers about what happened in that upper room almost 2000 years ago, we, too, have the promise that Christ is risen. He is risen indeed! We, too, have peace with God the Father because of the sacrifice of Christ. We, too, have a purpose. We are to continue the work of preaching repentance and the forgiveness of sins to the ends of the earth. We have been blessed. Let us bless others by sharing Jesus. 

Frank Van Brockin 

Principal/Teacher 

Coming up in the near future for Immanuel Lutheran School:

❖ Thank you to all who joined the piano students of Carey Hartwig for their annual recital on Friday, April 5, beginning at 6:30 PM. 

❖ Student - Parent - Teacher Conferences will continue on Thursday, April 11.

❖ Students in grades K-4 will be going to MAES to see Harry and Company on Friday, April 12. 

❖ ILS will celebrate Grandparents’ Day on Tuesday, April 16, beginning with the opening chapel service at 8:00 AM. All grandparents are invited to attend the celebration. Grandparents are free to take their grandchildren home with them after the celebration and lunch. If any members would like to serve as substitute grandparents for students with grandparents living out of the area, please feel free to join us. 

❖ There will be an early release with bus service on Tuesday, April 16. The ILS faculty will meet after all students have departed. 

❖ All are welcome to join us for our ILS Art fair on Friday, April 19, 5:00 to 6:30 PM.

❖ If anyone is interested in possibly volunteering to help drive Immanuel students to Wausau for class at St. Peter or Our Savior in the 2024-2025 school year, please contact me (Mr. V) or Kelsey Sova. We are looking for volunteers that would be able to drive for the whole school year.