>> ”A rather small handful of the population” <<
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LOL!
Only 7000 men plus their families on one occasion, and 5000 men and their families on another, and he often had to speak from a boat out in the Galilee to keep from being suffocated by the crowd.
The Pharisee scribes record that on his arrival on the temple mount, days before his crucifixion, he was followed by and greeted by millions.
Such a small handful.
Those numbers sound suspiciously like what CNN reported of the Million Man march. No, he had a handful of disciples.