Christmas Story

Question 1

Where did Joseph and Mary live?

Answer 1

Galilee, a town in Nazareth

Question 2

Where did Joseph and Mary travel for Jesus’s birth?

Answer 2

Bethlehem

Question 3

What is a common misconception about Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem?

Answer 3

That it was done by donkey

Question 4

What was the annunciation and where did it take place?

Answer 4

This was where the angel Gabriel announced Jesus’s birth. It took place in Galilee, which is in Nazareth

Question 5

Where did Jesus’s childhood take place?

Answer 5

Nazareth

Question 6

Where did jesus circumcision and presentation occur?

Answer 6

At the temple in Jerusalem

Question 7

Which was the one gospel that actually gave contextual backing to the story of jesus birth?

Answer 7

Luke

Question 8

Who were the righteous couple who had not had a child, and why had they not been able to?

Answer 8

Zechariah and Elizabeth. They did not have a child because Elizabeth had been barren, and they were now both extremely old

Question 9

Summarise what the angel of the lord came and said to Zechariah while he was burning incense

Answer 9

Elizabeth will bear a son, who should be named John. He must never drink wine or strong drink and he will be filled with the holy spirit even before his birth. He will turn many people of Israel to god. He will prepare the way for god’s arrival

Question 10

Zechariah did not believe what Gabriel told him at first. What was his punishment for this?

Answer 10

He will be unable to speak until the day these events take place

Question 11

Describe the annunciation

Answer 11

The angel Gabriel came to visit Mary in Nazareth in the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy. Mary was a virgin and was engaged to a descendant of David, called Joseph. Gabriel told Mary that she would become pregnant with a son who she was to call Jesus. He will be son of the most high and the lord God will give him the throne of his father David. He will reign the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will never end. The holy spirit will come upon Mary, so Jesus will be born holy, and can be called the son of god

Question 12

Summarise Mary’s visit to Elizabeth

Answer 12

Mary express gratitude that God has been merciful enough to make her his servant. She exclaims her joy and stays with Elizabeth for a further three months

Question 13

Describe the birth of John the Baptist

Answer 13

Their neighbours came to rejoice. Those there wanted to name the child Zechariah after his father, but Elizabeth insisted that he must be called John. Zechariah wrote on a tablet that he agreed with Elizabeth, and his name must be John. After this, god allowed Zechariah to speak again

Question 14

The genealogy of jesus is the beginning of which gospel?

Answer 14

Matthew, but like writes about it too

Question 15

What are the two main differences between Matthew and Luke’s genealogy?

Answer 15

Matthew only goes as far back as Abraham, whereas Luke goes all the way to Adam. They are also in reverse order

Question 16

What does tracing Jesus genealogy back to Abraham show about Matthews gospel?

Answer 16

Because Abraham was the father of the Jewish faith, it shows Matthew must have been writing for early Jewish-christian converts

Question 17

What does Luke tracing Jesus genealogy all the way back to Adam show about his gospel

Answer 17

Adam is often seen as the father of human kind. This shows that Luke was writing more for the gentiles and all of mankind

Question 18

Why does Matthew steer clear of presenting Jesus birth as being lowly and into poverty?

Answer 18

Because he wants to make clear to the Jewish Christian converts that Jesus is the kingly Messiah god promised to rise up from David’s line. Jesus being born in a stable would not seem like a birth fit for a messianic king

Question 19

Why two things does Matthew include in his account of jesus birth that would have appealed to Jewish Christian converts?

Answer 19

Joseph was very much in control in the relationship when he said he wished to privately divorce Mary, which would have appealed to the chauvinist Jewish ideas of the time. Also, Joseph communicated with an angel of God in a dream, which would have been a reference to old testament Jewish prophets, like Joseph, who did the same

Question 20

What does Emmanuel mean?

Answer 20

God with us (isa 8:8)

Question 21

In what way does matthew make reference to the old testament and why is this significant?

Answer 21

‘look! The virgin will conceive and bear a son, and they will call him Emmanuel’ (Isaiah 7:14). This is significant as Matthew wants to make clear to Jewish Christian converts that Jesus is the Messiah who is here to fulfil all the old testament prophecies

Question 22

What is particularly radical about likes gospel considering the time it was written?

Answer 22

Mary, a female, acted as a quasi main character, in a male dominated world

Question 23

Why does Matthew emphasise the fact that there was a star leading the way to jesus?

Answer 23

There was a star that heralded king davids birth aswell. this meant that to the Jewish Christian converts for whom Matthew was writing, the star will have indicated the birth of a great king. This will have underlined the fact that Jesus was an important king, just like David had been

Question 24

Explain the symbolism behind each of the three gifts jesus received

Answer 24

Gold - showed Jesus was a king
Frankincense - often used to mask the smell of animal sacrifice when worship was taking place in the temple. This therefore showed that Jesus was worthy of worship
Myrrh - often used as an embankment. Symbolises that fact that his death will be important

Question 25

What was significant about the way the the wise men were informed not to return to Herod in Matthews gospel?

Answer 25

They were told in a dream, which relates to the old testament

Question 26

What is significant about the fact that Luke makes shepherds part of his account of the adoration of jesus?

Answer 26

The shepherds come from normal, humble backgrounds,, which shows that the gospel is for everyone and the teachings of Jesus are not exclusiive

Question 27

Which gospel writer writes about the flight to Egypt?

Answer 27

Matthew

Question 28

What is the significance of the fact that Jesus had to flee to Egypt to escape a king that would have killed him?

Answer 28

Links Jesus to the old testament figure of Moses, as he had to do this too. This would have been an important part of the replacement theology that night have appealed to the early Jewish Christian converts

Question 29

What can be seen as replacing Moses’s 10 commandments in Matthews gospel?

Answer 29

The sermon on the mount

Question 30

Why do some people believe the sermon on the mount is more psychologically suitable than the 10 commandments?

Answer 30

Because the sermon on the mount positively sets out who you should be and what you should do, whereas the 10 commandments negatively instruct you on who you should be and what you should do. It is believed that positively enshrining a goal or rule will lead to a greater likelihood that it is adhered to

Question 31

What prophecy did Matthew make up?

Answer 31

That the Messiah would be a Nazarene - there seems to be no reference to this anywhere in the old testament

Question 32

What was Matthews first prophecy?

Answer 32

1:23 ‘the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’ (Isaiah 7:14)

This shows that he will be the son of god

Question 33

What was Matthews second prophecy?

Answer 33

2:6 ‘born in Bethlehem’ (Micah 5:2)

This is David’s royal city

Question 34

What was Matthews third prophecy?

Answer 34

2:17 ‘mary and Joseph will go to Egypt’ (Hos 11:1)

Shows that Jesus is here to replace the old testament figure of Moses