175
What is said of the numbers baptized by Jesus and his disciples as compared with those baptized by John?
John: “The Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John. (Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples.)” ([iv, 1, 2].)
Matthew ([iii, 5]) and Mark ([i, 5]) declare that John had baptized “Jerusalem and all Judea.” It is admitted, both in the New Testament and by Christians, that Jesus made but few converts during his lifetime, and to assert or intimate that he and his disciples baptized more than John is preposterous.
176
Who furnished the loaves and fishes with which the multitude in the desert was fed?
Synoptics: The disciples ([Matt. xiv, 15–17]; [Mark vi, 35–38]; [Luke ix, 12, 13]).
John: “A lad” ([vi, 9]).