Are Your Eyes Focused On Jesus?

Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, who is the author of our faith and the one who brings it to its goal. Hebrews 12:2a 

Living the life of a Christian is really quite simple. If we follow the advice of the writer to the Hebrews, we simply have to keep our focus on Jesus, on the cross, and on the empty tomb. If we do, our focus will be a heavenly focus. We will not be concerned about the things of this life. Rather, we will renew our minds daily in accordance with His will for our lives. 

Sounds so easy, doesn’t it? Ah, but then life enters in. Financial woes wrack our minds with worries and concerns. Health issues can make us wonder if our Great Physician hears our cries for help in our weakness. Family disputes rob us of peace in the one place where we should expect to have peace. And all along, temptations do come alluring as the evil one tries to do anything to keep our eyes from focusing on our Savior. 

But as we keep our eyes focused on Jesus, we find there is hope. He came to win a new life for us, a life beyond pain and misery and struggle and division. He came to assure us of an eternal home with God the Father, a home which will take us back to the perfection Adam and Eve first knew in the Garden. And Jesus assures us that even now He is preparing a place for us. We will live, someday soon, in a royal paradise. 

As we keep our eyes focused on Jesus, we will find comfort. There is comfort in knowing that our Savior was tempted in every way yet was without sin. It is not surprising to Him what we struggle with each day. There is comfort in knowing that He was a man of sorrows. He knows what it feels like to be rejected and to have loved ones wander from the faith. There is comfort in knowing that He has promised never to leave us or forsake us. In the midst of our greatest hours of trial, He is with us. 

As we keep our eyes focused on Jesus, we will find peace. It is for peace that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. No, He did not seek peace with the Romans or the Herodians. The peace He sought was far deeper. He sought peace with God the Father, peace for us as he acted as our mediator. He won that peace. He did so by obediently offering His life in exchange for ours. This was the joy set before Him in the midst of His languishing on the cross. 

We have reason to look to Christ this Palm Sunday. We will see His triumphant entry into Jerusalem. The hosannas that the people cried out are fitting. He is the One who saves and hears their pleas for salvation. He was their Savior on that day, and He is our Savior today. There is no other name under heaven by which we may be saved. Let us cry out our own hosannas. Let us fix our eyes upon Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. Blessings. 

Frank Van Brocklin 

Principal Teacher 

Coming up at Immanuel Lutheran School: 

❖ Our spring MAP assessments will be given the week of March 18-22.

❖ There will be no bus service on Thursday, March 28. We will not have school on Good Friday (March 29) and Easter Monday (April 1). 

❖ There is a Subway night on Wednesday, April 3, to help support our sending member youth to the 2024 Youth Rally. 

❖ Student-Parent-Teacher Conferences will be on April 8 and April 11 and will follow the format of the fall conferences. 

❖ There is an early release with bus service on Tuesday, April 16. 

❖ ILS will be hosting an Art Fair on Friday, April 19.