Who Am I? New Testament Characters -- #5 Quiz

Answer: No name is given

No name is given of the centurion. His statement "surely this man was the of God" appears in Mark 15:39. As I stated in another quiz I have posted about centurions in the New Testament, this Scripture always evokes memories with me of John Wayne in the movie "The Greatest Story Ever Told." The movie is about the life of Jesus and Wayne portrays a centurion at the crucifixion scene.

Although Wayne is portraying a Roman centurion, his drawl is overly evident when he says "Surely, this is the Son of God." According to the Web, this was Wayne's smallest starring role of his long and illustrious career.

Answer: Peter

Peter is the writer of 1 Peter and 2 Peter. Peter's message in the first book deals with, in part, enduring persecution while the second book addresses false teachers who had contaminated the early church. Peter was a fisherman from Bethsaida, a community on the Sea of Galilee. Without question, he was the shop foreman of the original 12 disciples as he appears front and center through the Gospels when it comes to accounts of the Twelve.

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.com, a web site 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 but in Romans 16:23, he is described by Paul as 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."

Answer: Philip

Philip is referred to as Philip the evangelist in Acts 21:8. When making reference to him, many people today call him Philip the evangelist to avoid any confusion with Philip, one of the original 12 disciples. Philip was responsible for converting the Ethiopian eunuch, the first believer in Africa in a resurrected Jesus Christ.

Answer: Ananias

Ananias can be found in Acts 9:10-18. Initially, Ananias was reluctant to follow the Lord's orders as he knew the notorious reputation Saul had for causing harm to believers in the early church. Nevertheless, he followed the orders. Acts 9:17-19 in the NIV Bible states: "Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, 'Brother Saul, the Lord -- Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here -- has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.' Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength."

Incidentally, there are two other men mentioned in Acts with the name Ananias.
One was struck dead, along with his wife Sapphira, after lying about turning all the proceeds over from the sale of their property to the early church, as per Acts 5:1-11. The other Ananias was the high priest who opposed Paul who was on trial before Felix, as per the 24th chapter of Acts.

Answer: Onesimus

Onesimus is part of one of those 'amazing small-world stories'. To put things in perspective Onesimus' master was Philemon who lived in Colosse, which is in present day Turkey. Paul converted Philemon to Christianity and then preached the news of a resurrected Jesus Christ in a number of other communities in Turkey and Europe before ending up in Rome. Philemon's slave Onesimus runs away and heads to Rome and wouldn't you know it, he meets up with Paul who in turn converts the run-away slave to Christianity. Later, Paul would write the book of Philemon, a passionate appeal to Onesimus' master to accept him back, not as a slave, but as an equal in Christ.

Answer: Jude

Jude is another form of Judas. There is no smoking gun, but many theologians believe the writer of Jude was the brother of Jesus. The writer, for example, describes himself as the brother of James. (Matthew 13:55 states Jesus had four brothers: James, Joseph, Simon and Judas.) Information at Biblos.com, a Bible encyclopedia web site, states Jude wrote the book because he "had received very distressing knowledge of the serious state into which the Christian brotherhood was rapidly drifting, and he must as a faithful servant of Jesus Christ exhort them to steadfastness and warn them of their danger."

Answer: Zechariah

Scripture states Zechariah was a priest who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah and his wife was also a descendant of Aaron, as per Luke 1:5. Luke 1:11-25 tells of the angel Gabriel appearing before Zechariah and telling him of the upcoming birth of their son, who would become John the Baptist.

When Zechariah doubts Gabriel's claims, he is rendered speechless as per Luke 1:20. After the baby is born, Zechariah writes on a tablet the infant is to be called John and according to verse 64 "immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue was loosed, and he began to speak, praising God."

Answer: No name is given

No name is given for the Philippi jailer. Lydia is seen as the first Christian convert in Europe and the Philippi jailer was right behind. His conversion is reported in the 16th chapter of Acts. Incidentally, after Paul and Silas converted the jailer and left the prison, they headed to Lydia's house. Just like Lydia, the entire household of the jailer came to believe in a resurrected Jesus Christ, as per Acts 16:34.