Word Association -- New Testament Characters #13 Quiz

Answer: Jesus

Christians associate Jesus with Immanuel. Matthew 1:23 (New King James Version) quotes Old Testament Scripture (Isaiah 7:14) and states in part, "the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel." The verse goes on to explain Immanuel means "God with us." The first chapter of Matthew tells of the genealogy of Christ and His birth.

According to Isaiah 7:14, Immanuel would be born of a virgin, with many Christians believing this is direct reference to the Virgin Mary giving birth to Jesus. Immanuel is also spelled as Emmanuel in some versions of the Bible. The name Immanuel can be found in only Isaiah in the Old Testament and Matthew in the New Testament.

Answer: Jairus

Jairus is the correct answer. He was the father of a twelve-year-old girl who was raised from the dead by Jesus, according to Mark 5:21-43 and Luke 8:40-56.

As morbid as it sounds, there was laughter after the little girl's death. In the accounts in Mark and Luke, it tells of people weeping for the dead girl outside her home. However, when Jesus appeared and stated the girl was not dead but was simply sleeping, the 'mourners' laughed at him. In other words, they saw Jesus as someone who was demented with no concept of reality. A few moments later, however, their laughter turned to total amazement when Christ raised the girl from the dead.

According to Mark 5:41 in the NKJV, Jesus said, "Little girl, I say to you, arise." And she did just that! The account of Jairus' daughter being raised from the dead is one of the most popular in the New Testament.

Answer: Ananias

The correct answer is Ananias. According to Acts 9:11, it was at the house of Judas on Straight Street in Damascus where Saul, who would later become known as Paul, would take refuge after his dramatic encounter with Jesus Christ.

According to the ninth chapter of Acts, Ananias was sent by the Lord to go to Paul to prepare him for his divine assignment as the apostle to the Gentiles.

Answer: Simon

The correct answer is Simon. Not much is known about Simon as he is only mentioned in passing reference. His name is mentioned three times and in each reference he is referred to as a tanner. It was at Simon the Tanner's home that Peter was staying at when Cornelius invited the disciple to visit him and his group of Gentile believers, as per Acts 10.

Incidentally, Simon is the only person listed in the entire Bible as someone working as a tanner.

Answer: Onesiphorus

Not much is known about Onesiphorus. However, his name is mentioned in context with those who had turned away from Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles. Nevertheless, Paul speaks highly of Onesiphorous and praises him for assistance received in the past. He also says he was often refreshed by Onesiphorus.

In 2 Timothy 1:15-18, in the NKJV Bible, he writes: "... all those in Asia have turned away from me, among whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes. The Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain; but when he arrived in Rome, he sought me out very zealously and found me. The Lord grant to him that he may find mercy from the Lord in that Day -- and you know very well how many ways he ministered to me at Ephesus."

According to notes in the NKJV Study Bible, Onesiphorus means 'Help Bringer'.

Answer: Urbanus

Urbanus is described by Paul in Romans 16:9 in the NKJV as a "fellow worker in Christ." However, not much is known about Urbanus as he is mentioned in only this passage in Scripture. In the NKJV Bible, Paul simply states: "Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and Stachys, my beloved." The 16th chapter of Romans is seen by many as a tribute to the 'Joe' and 'Jane' Christians of the day.

Answer: Onesimus

Onesimus, a run-away slave, is the correct answer. Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, used a pun in the book of Philemon when referring to Onesimus. According to notes in the NIV Study Bible, Onesimus means 'useful'. In Philemon 1:10-11, Paul writes to Philemon, the owner of the runaway slave: "...that I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains. Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me."

It was a 'classic small-world story'. Paul was involved in instructing the early church in Colosse of which Philemon was one of the members. Philemon's slave Onesimus runs away and goes to Rome and wouldn't you know it, he meets Paul and is converted to Christianity. Paul wrote the book of Philemon as a heart-felt plea to Onesimus' owner to accept him back as a equal in Christ.

Answer: Peter

According to the thirteenth chapter of the Gospel of John, Jesus poured water into a basin and prepared to wash the feet Twelve Disciples. When Christ started washing the disciples' feet, Scripture reports Peter was adamantly opposed. In John 13:8, Jesus responds by telling Peter that "unless I wash you, you have no part with Me." When Jesus made this statement, Peter replies in verse 9, by saying: "Then Lord, not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!"

Verses 10-11 go on to quote Jesus' reply to Peter: "'He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you'. For He knew who would betray Him; therefore He said, 'You are not all clean'."

Answer: Tertius

Romans 16:22, states "I, Tertius, who wrote down this letter, greet you in the Lord." There is no further mention of him in Scripture. According to Biblos, a website that serves as a Bible encyclopedia, some theologians suspect Tertius was a friend of Silas while others believe he was a Roman Christian living in Corinth. It's all speculation, of course.

Answer: Erastus

Not much is known about Erastus apart from the fact he is described by Paul in Romans as the city's director of public works. (Paul was in Corinth when he wrote Romans.) The name Erastus also appears in Acts 19:22 and in 2 Timothy 4:20, but theologians suspect it might not be the same person because Erastus was a common name in Biblical times.

Here's some fascinating trivia from the notes in the NIV Study Bible. The notes state "at Corinth, archaeologists have discovered a re-used block of stone in a paved square with the Latin inscription: 'Erastus, commissioner of public works, bore the expense of this pavement'."