Nine out of Ten: New Testament Trivia -- #6 Quiz

Answer: Eutychus

Eutychus fell out of a third story window at Troas, when Paul preached "on and on", according to Acts 20:7-12 in the NIV. After Eutychus tumbled out the window, people rushed downstairs and found him dead. According to Scripture, Paul raised the young man from the dead and went back upstairs and ate and did some more preaching.

It's stories like this by Luke that makes Acts such a fascinating book. Troas is in present day Turkey, south of the ancient city of Troy.

Answer: Peter

Peter came from Bethsaida, the same community as his brother Andrew and Philip, another member of the Twelve Disciples. According to Wikipedia, Bethsaida means 'house of fishing'. There is no smoking gun, but some theologians believe James and John also came from Bethsaida. According to Mark 8:22-26, Jesus restored the sight of a blind man at Bethsaida.

Answer: Hatred

The Jews and the Samaritans openly hated each other. And sometimes, Jesus used this fact in His teachings to make a point. A classic case of this is the Parable of the Good Samaritan. (Luke 10:25-37)

In the parable an unnamed man traveling between Jerusalem and Jericho is severely beaten, stripped of his clothes and robbed and left half dead along the side of the road. Scripture tells of a priest and then a Levite traveling along the road and when they came to the man, they passed by "on the other side". However, when a Samaritan, or a man from Samaria, encounters the man on the side of the road, he stops to help the victim.

Luke 10: 33-35 explains things this way in the NKJV: "But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, 'Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.'"

Notes in the NIV Study Bible provide interesting insight into the fact the man was neglected by a priest and a Levite and rescued by the anonymous Samaritan: "It is significant the person Jesus commended was neither the religious leader nor the lay associate, but a hated foreigner. Jews viewed Samaritans as half-breeds, both physically and spiritually. Samaritans and Jews practiced open hostility but Jesus asserted that love knows no national boundaries."

Answer: Ear

Peter cut off Malchus' ear with a sword during the arrest of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, as per John 18:10.

According to Scripture, Jesus miraculously restored Malchus' ear. Luke 22:49-51 gives this account: "When those around Him saw what was going to happen, they said to Him, 'Lord, shall we strike with the sword?' And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear. But Jesus answered and said, 'Permit even this.' And He touched his ear and healed him."

Malchus, however, is not identified by name in Luke's Gospel. He is identified in only John 18:10. Parallel passages involving Christ's arrest and the severing of Malchus' ear also appear in Matthew 26:46-57 and Mark 14:43-50.

Answer: Simon

Simon is the correct answer. John 13 tells of Jesus sharing the Last Supper with His disciples before the crucifixion and predicting one of the Twelve would betray Him. The disciples all wondered who it would be. The question is answered in John 13:26: "Jesus answered, 'It is he to whom I shall give a piece of bread when I have dipped it.' And having dipped the bread, He gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon."

This is the only mention of Judas' father in Scripture, however.

Answer: Italy

Yes, Italy is the correct answer. Notes in the NIV Study Bible state Claudius served as Emperor of Rome from 41 to 54 AD. All Jews were ordered deported during his reign. Priscilla and Aquila met up with Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, in Corinth. Paul's books 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians are addressed to followers of Christ in Corinth.

Acts 18:1-2, in the NKJV Bible, tell of Paul meeting up with Priscilla and Aquila: "After these things Paul departed from Athens and went to Corinth. And he found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla (because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome); and he came to them."

Answer: Andrew

The correct answer is Andrew. Prior to becoming one of the Twelve Disciples of Jesus, Andrew served as a disciple of John the Baptist, as per John 1:40.

Details about John the Baptist appear in Matthew 3:1-17, Luke 3:1-20, and John 1:19-34. He preached a message of repentance and told the people he had been sent to prepare the way for the long-promised Messiah. He had harsh words for the church leaders of the day (the Sadducees and the Pharisees), calling them "a brood of vipers." John also baptized Jesus in the Jordan River.

Many evangelical Christians regard John as the last of the Old Testament prophets.

Answer: Nathanael

Nathanael is the correct answer. John 1:49, in the NKJV, quotes Nathanael as telling Jesus, "Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!" The declaration is made months, perhaps years before Peter made his declaration in Matthew 16:16 that Christ is "the Son of the living God." Similar declarations by Peter are also recorded in Mark 8:29 and Luke 9:20.

Many theologians believe Bartholomew and Nathanael are the same person. When a list of the names of the disciples is given in Matthew, Mark and Luke, it contains the name Bartholomew, but not Nathanael. (The name Bartholomew is also mentioned in Acts.) However, in John there is mention of Nathanael, but no mention of Bartholomew. In Biblical times, it was common for people to have two names. For example, there's Peter who was also called Simon, and there's Matthew who was also called Levi, etc.

Answer: Sea of Galilee

The correct answer is the Sea of Galilee. I love the account in Mark 6:53-56 telling of what happened after Jesus and the disciples reached Gennesaret on the other side of the Sea of Galilee. The account in the NKJV reads: "When they had crossed over, they came to the land of Gennesaret and anchored there. And when they came out of the boat, immediately the people recognized Him, ran through that whole surrounding region, and began to carry about on beds those who were sick to wherever they heard He was. Wherever He entered, into villages, cities, or the country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged Him that they might just touch the hem of His garment. And as many as touched Him were made well."

Answer: Ephesians

Ephesians is the correct answer. It is one of thirteen books in the New Testament Paul is credited with writing.

Ephesians was addressed to members of the early church in Ephesus, an ancient city in present day Turkey. Ephesus was on the coast of Ionia, near present-day Selçuk in Izmir Province.

Ephesians appears after Galatians and before Philippians.

It was one of the seven churches of Asia cited in Revelation by John of Patmos. According to Wikipedia, there is speculation the Gospel of John was written in Ephesus.