Religious Text Quiz

The Beginning of the End

• Some people asked Jesus during Hanukkah, otherwise known as the Feast of Dedication, to tell them plainly if he was the Christ
• These signs testified to his identity
• He made a stronger claim that he and the father are one
• His questioners picked up rocks to throw at him
• Jesus stated to believe the works he does if they do not believe the works themselves, even though they do not believe him
• Jesus typically warned disciples that following him would not be easy
• He had nowhere to lay his head
• There was at least one home in Judea that was welcoming, that of Lazarus and his sisters Martha and Mary
• Their home was a short distance from Jerusalem in Bethany
• Martha and Mary told Jesus that Lazarus was seriously ill, and begged him to come quickly
• Jesus delayed, saying Lazarus had fallen asleep and he would recover
• Jesus then stated Lazarus was dead and they should go to him
• The disciples hesitated due to the risk of reaching those who wanted to destroy him
• Martha went to Jesus when he arrived at their house claiming her brother would not have died if he was there
• Jesus assured her that Lazarus would rise
• Jesus stated that he is the resurrection and the life, and that those who believes in him, though he die, shall live
• Jesus told Mary to fetch her sister
• Mary fell weeping when she saw him and repeated Martha's words
• Jesus wept
• The tomb was a nearby cave carved in a hillside
• Mourners gathered, and Jesus told them to take away the stone
• Martha said there would be an aroma because he had been dead for four days
• The stone was rolled back from the tomb's entrance as indicated
• Raising his eyes, Jesus then prayed and called Lazarus out: Lazarus, come out
• Lazarus, still wrapped in burial cloths, emerged from the tomb

The Sanhedrin Deliberates

• High priests and leading Pharisees convened the Sanhedrin to discuss the new miracle in Bethany
• Some said that everyone would believe in him if spared, and the Romans would destroy both their holy place and their nation
• Caiaphas, the high priest, stated that it was essential that one man should die for the people to save the nation
• Saint John writes that they took counsel to put Jesus to death and schemed how to do it
• Jesus slipped away when they sought to arrest him
• He set out for the region at the Jordan River where John had baptized
• He stayed where John had baptized people for several weeks
• Many people came to him and believed in him
• Mary anointed his feet with nard which was a costly fragrance that filled the entire house
• Judas Iscariot grumbled about selling the ointment for three hundred denarii and giving it to the poor
• Saint John explains that Judas was a thief who stole from the common purse
• Jesus answered stating to let her alone and keep it for the day of his burial

Last Days in Jerusalem

• Jesus went out for Jerusalem and rode a young donkey as foretold by Zechariah
• While people acclaimed him as he rode towards the city, some Pharisees watched angrily
• As procession neared the city walls, Jesus wept over Jerusalem
• He warned of the fate that would befall it in the years ahead
• He drove out the money changers and sellers of small birds from the Temple
• He declared, quoting Isaiah, that his house should be a house of prayer, not a den of robbers
• Jesus reached the Mount of Olives and the disciples asked of the sign of when the end begins
• Jesus spoke about the events during the Jewish wars against Rome in A.D. 66-70 and 115-117
• Jesus spoke of his Second Coming when he would return in glory to pronounce judgment on the world
• Jesus stated that the Son of Man will come in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne
• All nations will be gathered, one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats
• The sheep will be placed at the right and the goats at the left
• People who helped those in need will be rewarded and those who did not will go into eternal punishment, but the righteous shall receive into eternal life

The Betrayer

• The priests and Jewish leaders met in the palace of the high priest Caiaphas to plot Jesus' death
• Concerns arose that seizing him might trigger followers to save him
• Judas offered to deliver Jesus to them
• The priests paid Judas thirty pieces of silver
• Judas began looking for an opportunity to deliver Jesus to them
• Saint John states that Judas was a thief who stole from the common purse
• Another suggestion is that Judas was furious at Jesus for his way of being Messiah
• Judas was a Zealot expecting a Messiah who would drive out the Romans by force
• The best belief is that Satan had taken possession of Judas's heart and persuaded him to betray his Lord

Last Supper, Trial, and Crucifixion

• Jesus and the twelve disciples gathered for their evening meal in the Upper Room mid-week
• Part of the room may belong to the family of Mark the Evangelist
• Jesus intended a solemn occasion with his closest friends, intimately linked to his redemptive Sacrifice
• Before the meal, Jesus washed the feet of each apostle
• Peter objected to this gesture of humility by the man, but Jesus insisted
• Jesus said "You call me Teacher and Lord", indicating that as their Lord and Teacher, he ought to wash one another's feet
• Jesus then announced one of them would betray him
• Peter signaled to John to ask who it was
• Jesus dipped a morsel and handed it to Judas
• Judas muttered some excuse and hurried out of the room
• The rest supposed Jesus had sent Judas had been sent on an errand to give alms to the poor
• Jesus said "The cock will not crow till you have denied me three times."
• Jesus took unleavened bread, blessed it, and broke it, then distributed it to them, saying, "Take, eat; this is my body."
• He raised a cup of wine, blessed it, and gave it to them with the words: "Drink of it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”
• Jesus began his Last Supper discourse
• He spoke of consolation for the apostles, his new commandment of love ("Love one another as I have loved you")
• A reminder that no love is greater than the love that moves someone to lay down his life for friends
• A prediction that “the world” would hate and persecute them as it hated and persecuted him
• The promise of the Holy Spirit
• An exhortation to unity
• Addressing his Father, Jesus said "I do not pray that you should take them out of the world, but that you should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world."

Reasons for Jesus' death sentence

• Political with Jesus' popularity made him a limited but real threat to the religious authority of the religious establishment
• Caiaphas pointed out the danger of Roman intervention and the loss of power structure
• Religious reasons included Jesus' disregard for the Jewish law
• Offenses included violating the Sabbath by healing the sick and crippled
• Ignoring rules of ritual purification
• Consorting with sinners, Gentiles, and despised Samaritans
• Blasphemy was the final reason, explicit and implicit
• Jesus ignored teachers, expounded the law without reference to interpretations
• Jesus taught and acted as an authority
• He was perceived audaciously as mad or a pretender calling himself the Son of God
• Jesus made himself to be divine and self-taught
• Jesus' blasphemy from himself was intolerable, inexcusable, and deserving of death
• After raising of Lazarus, several weeks passed and now Jesus and his disciples moved north of Jerusalem to Ephraim
• Passover would be soon, with speculation of possible return to Jerusalem and six days before, traveling again to Bethany for a dinner
• Jesus went to Bethany and spent the night at Lazarus', Martha's, and Mary's home
• Jesus returned the next day to Jerusalem taught at the Temple before being confronted
• Jesus' enemies asked by what authority he did those things
• Jesus responded with the parable of the wicked tenants
• The priests and Pharisees understood the story was warning that they would be killed just as their forefathers had repeatedly rejected and killed prophets
• The stakes were visible with the conflict only ending in death
• The Sadducees interrogated Jesus as their first line of attack, reflecting their disbelief in an afterlife
• The Sadducees inquired whose wife would the seven-times-married woman be when the Resurrection comes, an event that they themselves thought would never happen
• Jesus informed them brusquely since all those who go there "are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection."
• The Sadducees "no longer dared" to ask him any question
• A companion marveled at the Temple's awesome size as Jesus was leaving
• Jesus was in a somber mood stating that no stone will be left here upon another that will not be thrown down

Test your knowledge of religious texts with questions about Jesus, Jewish leaders, and key teachings. Explore topics from plotting Jesus' death to interpreting his teachings on the Mount of Olives and the significance of Hanukkah. Questions cover the motivations, reactions, and consequences of faith and disbelief.