Bible Quiz

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Prepared by William R. Stegner Professor of New Testament Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary Evanston Illinois.

New Testament (The Gospels)

1. How did Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John make their living before following Jesus?

2. Jesus chose 12 disciples. Their names are the same in Matthew and Mark. Luke mentions one who is different. Who does Luke delete and who does he add? What were the names of the 12?

3. What was Matthew’s vocation before he became a disciple?

4. Which miracle story is recorded in all four Gospels?

5. Three Gospels contain an account of the Last Supper. One Gospel substitutes the story of foot washing for the institution of the Last Supper. Which one?

6. Which Jewish festival coincided with Jesus’ last week in Jerusalem?

7. Who were the sisters at whose house Jesus stayed and whose brother Lazarus Jesus raised?

8. According to the Gospel of John, to what woman did Jesus first appear after the resurrection?

9. Which Gospel records the Sermon on the Mount?

10. How many miraculous feedings does Mark record?

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Answers

1. They were fishermen. Luke reports that they were partners (Luke 5:10). Mark records their call this way:

“And passing along by the Sea of Galilee, [Jesus] saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me and I will make you become fishers of men.’ And immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. And immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and followed him” (Mark 1:16–20)

2. Luke mentions Judas the son of James and does not mention the name Thaddeus. Jesus prayed all night before choosing his apostles.

“In these days he went out to the mountain to pray; and all night he continued in prayer to God. And when it was day, he called his disciples, and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles; Simon, whom he Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot, and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor” (Luke 6:12–16).

The other lists of the apostles’ names in Matthew 10:1–4 and in Mark 3:13–19.

3. Matthew, whose other name was Levi, was a tax collector. The Israelites looked on tax collectors (or “publicans” in the King James translation) with disfavor. Tax collectors worked for the Romans and were corrupt. The Gospel’s description of Matthew’s call indicates the prevailing attitude toward people of his occupation.

“As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax office; and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he rose and followed him.”

“And as he sat at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Jesus and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?’ But when he heard it, he said, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice” For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners’ ” (Matthew 9:9–13)

4. The “feeding of the five thousand.”

When Jesus heard that Herod had killed John the Baptist, Jesus took his disciples and withdrew to a lonely place. Great crowds came to him there, and he taught them and healed their sick.

“When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a lonely place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages buy food for themselves.’. Jesus said, ‘They need not go away; you give them something to eat.’ They said to him, ‘We have only five loaves here and two fish’. And he said, ‘Bring them here to me.’ Then he ordered the crowds to sit on the grass; and taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and broke and the loaves to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children” (Matthew 14:15–21).

5. The Gospel of John. During supper on the night before he died, Jesus washed his disciples’ feet. Peter tried to prevent him, but Jesus answered, “If I do not wash you, you have no part in me” (John 13:8). Peter relented. John 13:1–20 contains the story of the foot washing.

6. Passover. Jesus came to Jerusalem the Sunday before Passover. The Gospels devote much attention to the events of his last week in Jerusalem. (See Matthew 21–28, Mark 11–16, Luke 19–24, John 12–20.)

7. Mary and Martha. They lived in Bethany, a village about two miles east of Jerusalem on the road to Jericho. Luke records a visit Jesus paid to Mary and Martha in 10:38–42. John describes the raising of Lazarus in 11:1–44.

8. Mary Magdalene. She was one of Jesus’ followers. “Magdalene” probably means “from Magdala,” a town on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. Mary at first did not recognize Jesus when she saw him after his resurrection.

“But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ She said to them, ‘Because they have taken away my Lord, and 1 do not know where they have laid him,’ Saying this she turned round and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek?’ Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’ She turned and said 019to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabboni!’ (which means “Teacher”). Jesus said to her, ‘Do not hold me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ Mary Magdalene went and said to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord’; and she told them that he had said these things to her” (John 20:11–18).

9. Matthew (chapters five through seven). Matthew does not identify the mountain on which the sermon took place; tradition places the sermon on the “Mount of the Beatitudes,” near Capernaum.

10. Two. In Mark 6:30–44, Jesus feeds five thousand men with five loaves and two fish. Mark 8:1–10, Jesus feeds four thousand people with seven loaves and a few fish.

Prepared by William R. Stegner Professor of New Testament Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary Evanston Illinois.

New Testament (The Gospels)
1. How did Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John make their living before following Jesus?