The Father chose the places where Jesus should be and led Him to do the works capable of bringing people into the divine presence. Christ said that He acted as He saw His Father do and spoke according to His guidance (John 5:19). Now, if we let the Holy Spirit use us, we would see more wonders in our midst (John 14:12). Those who surrender themselves completely to God are used to help people enter through the narrow Gate (Matthew 7:13,14).

Those days had been days of hard work, but as He always did, the Master followed the example of the Father. It was important in the eyes of the Creator that the Son be the Model for those who wanted to be successful in faith: For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel. (John 5.20). Imitate the Lord!

Jesus spent a good deal of time instructing His disciples and showed those who did not yet understand the Truth the need to apply His teachings in order not to act according to the flesh. Today, the same lessons are precious, for we live in troubled times in which many are only concerned with obtaining more money and pleasure. We do not enter the Kingdom of the Son of God to fill ourselves with carnality and live as if everything ends with our death (Galatians 5:19-21).

We do not know how many days Christ and His disciples stayed in Jericho; the truth is that the number of people who followed the Savior increased greatly. However, when they left there, in addition to the disciples who would not abandon Him for anything, many decided to go with Him. Jesus continued to do His work. In that city, He went to the house of Zacchaeus, the tax collector, who opened his heart and confessed that if he had taken anything for himself, he would do what was required by the Law of Moses (Exodus 22:1). Zacchaeus and his household were saved (Luke 19:9,10).

When the Master left the city for Jerusalem, where He would be arrested and killed, a blind beggar asked why so many people were passing by, and they told him that they were following Jesus. They now formed a great multitude, because the number of people who enjoyed walking alongside the Savior, to see the wonders being done in the lives of all the people, was enormous. Why was the hand of God working so powerfully in those days? Imagine!

There was a blind man who survived begging on the streets. His name was Bartimaeus, son of Timaeus, who sat begging for help to survive. When Bartimaeus learned the reason why so many people were following the Lord, he began to beg for mercy and help. At first, it seemed that the Master did not pay attention to him. As Jesus continued to walk away from Bartimaeus, he cried out louder. It was the decisive moment!

The blind man's cry made the Master stop and send for him. There were people who ordered him not to disturb Jesus, but the Lord told him to get up and be of good cheer, because He was calling him. When summoned into the Lord's presence, Bartimaeus was healed and instructed on what to do (Mark 10:47-52).

In Christ, with love,

R. R. Soares.