Bible Quiz
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Diversity Among the Gospels
Prepared by Charles W. Hedrick, Professor of Religious Studies, Southwest Missouri State University, Springfield, Missouri.
1. Which Gospels record the genealogy of Jesus?
2. When Jesus was baptized the Holy Spirit descended on him. Which gospel reports that the Holy Spirit descended as a dove in bodily form.?
3. Which Gospels describe Jesus’ temptations?
4. How old was Jesus when he began his public ministry?
5. Only one Gospel includes women in the genealogy of Jesus: Which one and who are the women?
6. The birth of John the Baptist is described by which evangelist?
7. Which Gospel reports the circumcision of Jesus? How old was Jesus when he was circumcised?
8. Jesus’ teachings beginning “Blessed are …” are called beatitudes. Can you complete this beatitude? “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall…… ” In which Gospel is this beatitude found?
9. When did Jesus celebrate the “Last Supper” with his disciples?
10. Name three places Jesus appeared after the resurrection.
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Answers
1. Matthew (1:1–17) and Luke (3:23–28). Since the genealogies are very different, a number of explanations for those differences are proposed. One conjecture is that Luke presents Mary’s genealogy, while Matthew presents Joseph’s. Matthew traces Jesus’ genealogy from Abraham, the father of Hebrew faith, through the royal Davidic line to Joseph (Matthew 1:16). Luke’s genealogy traces Jesus’ ancestry from Joseph (Luke 3:23) to Adam—and then to God. Hence Luke’s genealogy emphasizes Jesus’ relationship to the whole of humankind, rather than to the people of covenant faith, as Matthew’s does.
2. Luke (3:21–22). “Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form as a dove, and a voice came from heaven, ‘Thou art my beloved Son, with thee I am well pleased’ ” (Luke 3:21–22). Matthew, Mark and John also report this event, but do not use the words “in bodily form,” nor do they describe the descending spirit as the “Holy Spirit.”
3. Matthew (4:1–11) and Luke (4:1–13). After Jesus was baptized, he was led by the spirit (Mark—the spirit drove him) into the wilderness, where he fasted 40 days. Then the devil came to tempt him. “And the tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.’ But he answered, ‘It is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ” Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written “He will give his angels charge of you,” and “On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ” Jesus said to him ‘Again it is written, “You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ ” Again the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them; and he said to him, ‘All these I will give you if you will fall down and worship me.’ Then Jesus said to him, Begone Satan! for it is written, “You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’ ” Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and ministered to him.” (Mathew 4:1–11). Luke gives a different order for the temptations, and Mark gives no description of the temptations.
4. About thirty years old (Luke 3:23). Jesus began his public ministry following his baptism. After giving Jesus’ age, Luke immediately gives Jesus’ genealogy, tracing his descent back through the first man, Adam, to God. The other three gospels give no age for Jesus.
5. Matthew. The women are Tamar (1:3), Rahab (1:5), Ruth (1:5), Bathsheba (1:6) and Mary (1:16). Tamar pretended to be a harlot, and bore a son by her father-in-law, Judah (Genesis 38); Rahab was a harlot in Jericho who concealed two Israelite spies prior to Israel’s invasion of Canan (Joshua 2); Ruth married Boaz and became David’s great-grandmother (Ruth 4:16–17); David took Bathsheba to wife after murdering Uriah the Hittite (2 Samuel 11); and Mary, of course, was Jesus’ mother.
6. Luke (1:57–80). John’s mother, Elizabeth, had been barren. God sent the angel Gabriel to promise a son to Elizabeth’s husband, the priest Zechariah, but Zechariah did not believe Gabriel and so was struck mute until John’s birth (Luke 1:5–23). When John was born, Zechariah was able to speak again and praised God (Luke 1:64–80).
7. Luke. Jesus was circumcised at the end of eight days (Luke 2:21) as prescribed in the Torah (Leviticus 12:3).
8. “See God.” This beatitude is part of the Sermon on the Mount, which Jesus taught “sitting” on a mountain in Galilee; it appears in Matthew 5:8. Eight other beatitudes are included in Matthew 5, including “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” and “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” Tradition marks a mountain near Capernaum as the site of this sermon, but Matthew gives no indication of exactly where the mountain was located. Luke gives only four beatitudes in chapter 6 of his gospel. Luke’s beatitudes begin “Blessed are you.…” The first is “Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.” The third is “Blessed are you that weep now, for you shall laugh.” This chapter is sometimes called “the Sermon on the Plain,” because Luke states that Jesus preached it “standing” on a “level place,” after having come down from the hills with his disciples.
9. At the time of Passover. According to Matthew (26:17–29), Mark (14:12–25) and Luke (22:1–22), the last meal Jesus ate with his disciples was the Jewish Passover meal. Today, the remembrance of this meal by Christians is called the “Eucharist,” “communion,” or “the Lord’s Supper” because Jesus “took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, ‘Take, eat; this is my body.’ And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins’ ” (Matthew 26:26–28). The narrative is slightly different in all three gospels. For example, Luke presents the cup before the bread, while Matthew and Mark present the bread first. Matthew is the only one to include the words “for the forgiveness of sins” (26:28).
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In John’s gospel (13:1–2), however, the “Last Supper” takes place before the Passover celebration. John’s description of the meal does not include the traditional eucharistic words, but instead, “Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper, laid aside his garments, and girded himself with a towel. Then he poured water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel with which he was girded.… When he had washed their feet, and taken his garments, and resumed his place, he said to them, ‘Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them’ ” (13:3–5, 12–17). In John, the crucifixion occurs before the Passover (19:14–31, 42). See also “Was the Last Supper a Passover Seder?”
10. Jerusalem, Galilee, the road to Emmaus. John reports the appearance of Jesus to Mary near his tomb (John 20:11–17); Jesus also appears twice to the disciples in Jerusalem while they were gathered together behind closed doors (John 20:19–29); he also appears to Peter and John at the Sea of Galilee, where they had gone to fish (John 21:1–22). Luke describes an appearance to two disciples walking from Jerusalem during the afternoon of resurrection Sunday to a village called Emmaus (Luke 24:13–32), and later to eleven disciples in Jerusalem (Luke 24:33–49). Jesus appears to the disciples on a mountain in Galilee (Matthew 28:16–20). During this appearance, he instructs them to “make disciples” of all nations. (Matthew 28:19–20). Luke’s appearances take place only in and around Jerusalem, Matthew’s take place only in Galilee, and John’s take place in both Jerusalem and Galilee. No post-resurrection appearances are reported in Mark, though Mark alludes to an appearance in Galilee (Mark 14:28, 16:7).
Diversity Among the Gospels
Prepared by Charles W. Hedrick, Professor of Religious Studies, Southwest Missouri State University, Springfield, Missouri.
1. Which Gospels record the genealogy of Jesus?
2. When Jesus was baptized the Holy Spirit descended on him. Which gospel reports that the Holy Spirit descended as a dove in bodily form.?
3. Which Gospels describe Jesus’ temptations?
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