Easter Bible Passion Trivia Quiz

Answer: Babylonian goddess' name or the Germanic word for "sunlight"

Most likely, two of the strongest possibilities for the derivation of the word Easter are either from ancient Assyrian "Ishtar" or from the Germanic (Saxon) word for "white" or "sunshine" - Ostern/Eostre/Eastre.

In either event, Paganism played a role in the name. If Ishtar, the Babylonian (Assyrian) goddess, is the source of the name Easter, then she was the goddess of love, war, sex, and fertility, and her cult involved a so-called "sacred sexuality." If the Saxon derivation is correct, this could be a result of the spread of that culture into Europe. The Saxon word, Ostern (Eastern), referring to sunrise may have influenced the name as well.

Easter was originally a Pagan festival of the Spring Equinox, a time of fertility worship. These celebrations were encountered by early missionaries. Rather than attempting to squelch or eradicate the festival entirely, they simply introduced Christian beliefs into the festive season, much as what had been done with the Christmas season, with its Pagan roots and practices. These were reluctantly adopted and "improved" upon by the early church.

Looking at the festival of Easter in this way, it is easy to see how the incongruous symbols of fertility of Easter eggs, bunnies, chicks and all sorts of other pagan practices that are associated with Easter exist right alongside the Christian belief of the resurrection of Christ.

The following sources were used in construction of this question; The Berean Chronicles; The Catholic Encyclopedia; the Greek Septuagint; and The Church of God Daily Bible Study.

Question by logcrawler

Answer: He referred to one who had dipped his bread in the dish with Christ

Jesus then prophesied that he, Christ, would die and how horrible it would be for the man that betrayed him. Judas then said: "Surely, teacher, you don't mean me?" Jesus answered, "So you say." (Matthew 26:25 GNB)

Question by aclb

Answer: Blood

Luke 22:44 (King James Version) reads, "And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground."

This blood imagery foreshadowed the crucifixion which was to occur the next day, on Good Friday.

Question by star_gazer

Answer: Luke

For some unknown reason, Luke chose not to write about the scourging of Christ.

After Jesus was whipped, Roman soldiers clothed him in a robe and crowned him with thorns. The soldiers then mocked Christ by kneeling before him and hailing him "King Of The Jews!" (John 19:1-3 KJV)

Question by star_gazer

Answer: His wife told him to have nothing to do with him

Matthew 27:1-2 says that the chief priests and elders of the people decided that Jesus should be put to death, so they handed him over to Pilate. Matthew 27:3-10 tells of Judas' suicide, then the story of Jesus' crucifixion and death continues from verse 11.

At the time of the feast of Passover Pilate, the governor, would usually set a Jewish prisoner free. At that time, he also had a prisoner named Barabbas. Pilate brought Barabbas and Jesus out to the crowd so that they could decide. The crowd, having been worked into a frenzy by the Pharisees, demanded that Christ be put to death.

Pilate's wife then sent him a message telling him to have nothing to do with Jesus. Pilate took a bowl of water and washed his hands and said that he was innocent of Jesus' blood, that it was the crowd's responsibility. They agreed to this; so, Barabbas was set free and Jesus was sent to be crucified.

Question by Jimmy (J-Zilch)

Answer: a crown of thorns

As many Christians see it, although the soldiers did not know what they were doing, they regardless did God's will: They crowned Jesus, and dressed Him in a red robe which symbolized, both His true royalty and the blood he was soon to shed; they crowned Him with thorns, making Him to represent Adam, by whose sin thorns had come into the world; and, they made Him a reminder of the ram which God provided to Abraham, the ram caught by its horns in the thicket, that Isaac's life be spared. With these thorns they crowned Him 'Lamb of God', the one Sacrifice for sin.

Question by Rimrunner

Answer: A relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off

According to John 18:10, Peter drew a sword and cut off the ear of Malchus, a servant of the high priest, while Jesus was being arrested. Luke 22:50-51 tells us that Jesus then "touched the man's ear and healed him." Peter's denial of Jesus and the subsequent crowing of the rooster had been predicted by Christ. The account of Jesus' prediction and Peter's denial can be found in all four Gospels. (Matthew 26:34-75, Mark 14:30-72, Luke 22:34-62 and John 13:38 and 18:15-27.) The accounts in Matthew, Mark and Luke tell of Peter weeping "bitterly" after the rooster crowed.

Question by Cowrofl

Answer: "My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?"

The verse can be found in Matthew 27:46. The words Jesus spoke were in Aramaic, his native language. He then said "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit". This shows that he fully trusted His Father and was ready to die. Many Christians believe that it is fitting that this happened around the time of Passover, since Passover is in remembrance of when the Jews sacrificed lambs to save their firstborn children in Egypt. Jesus is considered by Christians to be God's perfect lamb, sent down as a sacrifice to spare God's children here on Earth from eternal separation from God because of sin.

Question by Ilona_ritter

Answer: One of the soldiers had pierced Jesus' side with a spear to test this

According to John 19:31-37 (NKJV), the execution squad, on instructions from Pilate and to please the Jewish leaders, went around breaking the legs of the condemned men to hasten their deaths. With broken legs, a crucified man would suffocate quickly. When they came to Jesus, the experienced soldiers saw that He was already dead; and, they therefore did not bother with breaking His legs. Just to make quite certain, one of them stuck a spear into Jesus' chest, which pierced the heart and produced blood and water. All of the soldiers were satisfied with the results.

Thus reassured, Pilate released Jesus' body to Joseph who, assisted by Nicodemus and, in all likelihood, some others, prepared Jesus' body and laid it in the new tomb and sealed it.

Question by Rimrunner

Answer: No

It actually doesn't say how long he was in the tomb. However, in Matthew 12 the Pharisees went to Jesus and asked for a sign. In verses 39-40, He said "A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." Many people believe that, when he said "The Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth", he was speaking of his time in the tomb before his resurrection.

Question by Jimmy (J-Zilch)