Dr. Dale Taliaferro’s 38-question quiz concerning the Christmas story from a biblical perspective.
| The quiz with questions and answers together can be found here. |
1. Can you name the parents of Jesus?
Answer
2. Where did Joseph and Mary live before they were married?
Answer
3. What was the name of the angel who appeared to Mary?
Answer
4. Where did Joseph and Mary live after their marriage?
Answer
5. Where was Mary when the angel appeared to her?
Answer
6. Whom did Mary visit immediately after Gabriel appeared to her?
Answer
7. How far along in her pregnancy was Elizabeth when Gabriel appeared to Mary?
Answer
8. How long did Mary stay with Elizabeth?
Answer
9. Why didn’t Mary stay to celebrate the birth of John?
Answer
10. How far along in her pregnancy was Mary when she broke the news to Joseph?
Answer
11. Why were Joseph and Mary going to Bethlehem?
Answer
12. Why did Mary accompany Joseph?
Answer
13. What determined the city to which each Jew had to travel in order to be taxed?
Answer
14. Who, then, would be in Bethlehem?
Answer
15. How did they travel?
Answer
16. Why couldn’t Joseph and Mary find space in the inn?
Answer
17. Who were the first people to come to see Jesus according to Scripture?
Answer
18. What chorus did the angels sing to the shepherds?
Answer
19. What sign did the angels tell the shepherds to look for?
Answer
20. What was the manger?
Answer
21. In what way do the meaning of the Hebrew term for Bethlehem and the sign given by the angels prepare us for Jesus’ later ministry?
Answer
22. What happened eight days after Jesus’ birth?
Answer
23. What happened 32 days after Jesus’ circumcision (40 days after Jesus’ birth)?
Answer
24. What are two reasons that Joseph and Mary took Jesus to Jerusalem?
Answer
25. Where did Joseph and Mary go after the purification ceremony?
Answer
26. What are magi?
Answer
27. How many wise men came to see Jesus?
Answer
28. How many gifts did the wise men bring and to whom did they present their gifts?
Answer
29. What was curious about the star?
Answer
30. How did Herod use the star?
Answer
31. Where were Jesus, Mary, and Joseph when the wise men reached them?
Answer
32. How old was Jesus at this time?
Answer
33. In what year was Jesus born?
Answer
34. How long was Jesus in Egypt with His parents?
Answer
35. How did Joseph and Mary finance the trip to Egypt?
Answer
36. Where was Jesus raised upon His return to Israel?
Answer
37. How old was Jesus when He began His ministry?
Answer
38. How old was Jesus when He died?
Answer
Answers
1. a. Mary (Matt. 1:16; Luke 1:31, 2:6-7).
b. God (Luke 1:32, 35).
c. Joseph (by adoption) (Matt 1:16, 19-20, 24-25).
Back
2. a. Mary–In Nazareth (Luke 1:26-27).
b. Joseph–In Nazareth, presumably (Luke 2:4).
Back
3. Gabriel (Luke 1:26).
Back
4. Nazareth (Luke 2:4-5, 39).
Back
5. In Nazareth, inside some structure or building (Luke 1:26, 28).
Back
6. Elizabeth, her relative (Luke 1:36).
Back
7. Six months (Luke 1:26, 36).
Back
8. About three months (Luke 1:56).
Back
9. Probably fear of stoning, since she was pregnant and beginning to “show.”
Back
10. At least three months (Luke 1:38-39, 56).
Back
11. To be enrolled for the taxes (Luke 2:1-3).
Back
12. a. A practical reason (she was well along in her pregnancy).
b. A biblical-prophetical reason (Micah 5:2).
Back
13. Lineage. Joseph had to go to the city of David since he was of “the house and family of David.” (Luke 2:3-4).
Back
14. a. Joseph’s relatives—descendants of David (Luke 2:3-4).
b. Possibly Mary’s relatives also (Luke 3:31-32).
Back
15. Probably in a caravan (cf. Luke 10:30-37, esp. 30). The Scripture doesn’t say anything about their journey to Bethlehem.
Back
16. Probably because Joseph’s relatives rejected them and wouldn’t give up their space (Luke 2:5; cf. Luke 1:61, 2:5; John 8:41).
Back
17. Shepherds (Luke 2:8, 15-16).
Back
18. None. They said “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among men of good will” (Luke 2:14).
Back
19. The baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger (Luke 2:12, 16-17).
Back
20. A feeding trough made of stone.
Back
21. a. Bethlehem means “house of bread,” which correlates with Jesus’ Bread of Life discourse (John 6:22-65).
b. Jesus was wrapped in swaddling clothes—the same kind of clothes He would be buried in (John 19:40).
Back
22. His circumcision (Luke 2:21).
Back
23. Mary’s ceremonial purification and Jesus’ redemption (Luke 2:22-24).
Back
24. a. To fulfill the Law—Jesus’ redemption and Mary’s purification (Luke 2:22-23).
b. To fulfill prophecy (the personal prophetic revelation given to Simeon) (Luke 2:25-32, esp. 26).
Back
25. Nazareth (Luke 2:39).
Back
26. Politically powerful scholars and astronomers (“king-makers”).
Back
27. Scripture does not say, but Augustine and Chrysostom say twelve. Another tradition names three: Melchior (Shem’s descendant), Caspar (Ham’s descendant), and Balthasar (Japheth’s descendant).
Back
28. At least one gift from each wise man. They presented the gifts—plural in number—to Jesus. Gold, frankincense, and myrrh designate appositionally the kinds of gifts, not the number (Matt. 2:1-2, 11).
Back
29. It was not constant (Matt. 2:2, 10).
Back
30. He calculated the age of the child by the length of time it had been appearing and reappearing (Matt 2:7, 16). The wise men did not discourage this thinking.
Back
31. a. In a house, not the stable (Matt 2:11).
b. In Nazareth. The impression given in Matthew 2 is that of a hurried, immediate escape for all (Luke 2:39). Thus there was no time to fulfill the law or the prophetic utterance (cf. no. 24).
Back
32. Two months to two years.
Back
33. Five or four B.C. (Herod died in March or April of 4 B.C.)
Back
34. From one month to over one year.
Back
35. Probably with the gifts of the magi.
Back
36. Nazareth (Matt 2:23).
Back
37. 33 to 34 years old (born 5 to 4 B.C., began ministry A.D. 29). Luke 3:23 tells us he was “about thirty”; the Greek indicates a rough (rather than close) estimate.
Back
38. 37 to 38 years old, depending on whether His ministry was three or four years in length.
Back
© 2001 Probe Ministries
Dr. Dale Taliaferro
Dr. Dale Taliaferro, formerly with Probe Ministries, earned both an M.Div. and M.Th., and received his D.Min. from Western Baptist Seminary in Portland, Oregon. In 2003 he founded Equipped for Life Ministries, offering six week/lesson seminars on the Christian life, weekly Bible studies, and a two-year training program in Bible and Theology. He and his wife Waunee reside in Dallas, Texas.
What is Probe?
Probe Ministries is a non-profit ministry whose mission is to assist the church in renewing the minds of believers with a Christian worldview and to equip the church to engage the world for Christ. Probe fulfills this mission through our Mind Games conferences for youth and adults, our 3-minute daily radio program, and our extensive Web site at www.probe.org.
Further information about Probe's materials and ministry may be obtained by contacting us at:
Probe Ministries
2001 W. Plano Parkway, Suite 2000
Plano TX 75075
(972) 941-4565
[email protected]
www.probe.org
Copyright/Reproduction Limitations
This document is the sole property of Probe Ministries. It may not be altered or edited in any way. Permission is granted to use in digital or printed form so long as it is circulated without charge, and in its entirety. This document may not be repackaged in any form for sale or resale. All reproductions of this document must contain the copyright notice (i.e., Copyright 2024 Probe Ministries) and this Copyright/Limitations notice.
Comments are closed.
These topics and especially the one on cult has really helped me,I have been wondering when I see some things happening in some churches but after going through this topic,I just feel our preachers need this more than else.people are cheated without knowing.may God lift this ministry to a higher level,I need these teaching near me.i wish you can bring these teachings to my country,I have a group of preachers who I feel can be changed by such a conference.be blessed.
Thank you, Martha. We are so glad to be able to offer 1900+ resources to the church–and anyone else with internet access–worldwide!