A Christmas Quiz

Answer: Matthew and Luke

I hope that was not too difficult to start with. Matthew tells the story at the very start of the New Testament, and here we learn of the wise men. Luke tells us about Mary and the shepherds.

Answer: Gabriel

Gabriel also visited Mary's cousin's husband to tell him that he was going to be a Dad even though he and his wife, Elizabeth, were very old. Their son was John the Baptist.

Answer: that her cousin was pregnant

Elizabeth was a lot older than Mary, who was only about fourteen or fifteen when she had Jesus. She had wanted a child for a long time and was very unhappy because she thought she was too old to be a mother.

Answer: because of the census

Caesar, the leader of the Romans, wanted everyone in his empire counted, and because the Jews might have gone to war about it, he made them move around the country to be counted - this had them going to different places with strangers and made it difficult for them to fight the Romans.

Answer: False

Because Bethlehem was full of people, none of the houses and inns had any room for Joseph and Mary. One innkeeper took pity on them (because Mary was about to have the baby) and let them go into their stable so they could shelter and have a little privacy.

Answer: shepherds

The grandparents are usually the first to come to the house or the hospital after a birth, but this time the first visitors were the men who spent nights out in the fields looking after sheep. They were told about the baby by angels and came looking for him. Even though Joseph and Mary knew about Jesus, they were delighted to hear that the angels had told someone else as well.

Answer: they came from the east

Matthew chapter 2 says: 'Soon afterwards, some men who studied the stars came from the east to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the baby born to be the king of the Jews? We saw his star when it came up in the east, and we have come to worship him."'

Answer: Herod

Herod was not very happy that a baby had been born who was to be King of the Jews, because that was his job and he wanted his son to be King after him. He was not a very good man and he killed lots of little boys hoping to kill Jesus.

Answer: Simeon and Anna

Simeon had prayed that he would not die until he had seen the Messiah, and recognised Jesus immediately, while Anna was a old woman who was told who Jesus was by the Holy Spirit the moment she came to the Temple.

Answer: Egypt

We don't know how long the family stayed in Egypt, because the next thing we learn about Jesus was when he was twelve, and they were visiting Jerusalem.