A Christmas Story Quiz

Want to have some fun this Christmas season? Get family or friends together, make some hot chocolate or coffee, and try this Christmas Story Quiz!

Keep a Bible handy. Try without a Bible and then with a Bible. See how you do! The number of traditions that have grown up around the Christmas story are so legion that the real Christmas story is hardly identifiable. Some of the questions are a little ambiguous, so don’t worry about getting them right or wrong as much as discussing them.

1. Jesus was born in the year 0. True or false.
2. Were Joseph and Mary married before she was found to be with child?
3. How many of the New Testament Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) record the actual birth of Christ? What is/are the name of the book/books? 
   1. 1
   2. 2
   3. 3
   4. 4
4. Whose genealogy is recorded in Matthew 1:1-18? Joseph or Mary?
5. What is a manger?
6. What are magi? How many were there?
7. What animals are described in the manger scene in the Gospels?
8. Mary was told what to name her child. True or false.
9. Are John (the baptizer) and Jesus related? How?
10. Matthew 2 is primarily about whom?
11. Luke 1 has 80 verses. These speak primarily of the advent of whom?
12. Was Mary given a sign that she would be with child? Yes or no. If yes, what was the sign?
13. When Herod the king learned of the coming King of the Jews, he was greatly troubled (disturbed) and all Jerusalem together with him. True or false. If true, why was Herod disturbed? Why was all Jerusalem disturbed? 
14. Kings came to see Jesus’ birth at the stable. True or false
15. Herod knew of a coming king. From what source did he find the location of the birth?
16. The wise men came to the stable. True or false?
17. The wise men probably met the shepherds.
18. Jesus was about how old when the wise men came?
19. Is this baby in the manger God?
20. Did the wise men see the star in the east? If yes, then did they go east or west? 
21. Jesus became the Son of God at His birth. True or false? (extra credit)
22. Jesus is the son of Joseph.
23. Jesus grew up in…
    1. Bethlehem
    2. Jerusalem
    3. Nazareth
24. Jesus was born in an “inn” (like a small hotel)?
25. Jesus was born in Bethlehem because:
    1. It was prophesied that He would be born in Bethlehem
    2. It was the sovereign plan of God.
    3. The Romans called a census.
    4. All of the above

Answers: 1) F. The Julian calendar does not have a year 0. Our original calendar was set up by a miscalculation that He was born in 1BC, though this is impossible because Herod the Great died in 4BC. Jesus was most likely born in 7BC. If He died in AD33 then He was about 40 years old at His death, not 30 or 33 as most assume. 2) No, they were betrothed but not yet married. However, in Jewish law the betrothal was so strong that it was legal in Judea to travel together as man and wife. In fact, the arrangement was so strong it was considered a legal marriage and breaking it required a divorce. When Joseph discovered she was with child, he was planning to “put her away quietly,” which means “divorce.” It was crucial that he not do this because then he would not be the legal father of Jesus which was required to transfer David’s throne rights to Jesus. 3) 2. Matthew 1 and Luke 3. 4) Joseph. 5) A stone feeding trough. 6) Astronomers. These men studied the movement of stars. They were evidently descendants of those who were in the school that Daniel became president of in the reign of Nebuchadnezzar (Dan 2) and were believers. We don’t know how many there were. The idea of “three”, embodied in the hymn “We Three Kings,” is due to the three gifts given. However, the number of gifts does not indicate the number of gift-givers. Further, three would hardly cause a disturbance in Jerusalem (Mt. 2:3). Some scholars think up to 600. They came to worship Him, which indicates they were believers. The back story is fascinating. 7) None. Modern embellishment, though it was a cave and probably attached to or underneath a house, often used for storage or shelter for animals. 8) True (Lk 1:31). Joseph was also told the name (Mt. 1:21). This confirmed that the message was from God. 9) Yes. Cousins. 10) Herod the Great. 11) John the baptizer. 12) Yes. Luke 1:36. 13) True (Mt. 2:3). They didn’t want another King (John 19:15). 14) False. A king tried to have him murdered. The wise men were not kings. 15) Jewish scribes who pointed him to Micah 5:2. 16) False. They came to a house, whereas the shepherds came to a cave. 17) No, the wise men came much later than the shepherds. 18) Probably between six months and 2 years old. Herod wanted all the baby boys under 2 years of age killed. He calculated according to the time the star appeared and added some time to make sure he successfully murdered the threat to his throne. 19) Yes. He has always been God and will always be God. 20) Yes. They went west. Why? This has a lot to do with the identification of the star which is another fascinating story. It’s not a natural star. Yes, I’ve seen The Star of Bethlehem presentation. That is an old myth. 21) False. He is eternally the Son of God. This is called the doctrine of eternal sonship. The Son no more became a Son than the Father became a Father. 22) No. He was supposedly (thought to be) the son of Joseph (Lk 3:23). This has to be clarified though. While He was not the biological son of Joseph, He was the adopted son of Joseph, which was critical to His receiving Davidic throne rights. 23) 3. 24) No. Bethlehem was a very small village. It is unlikely they had any places to lodge like a hotel. These were usually along the major highways in larger cities. The Greek word translated “inn” is kataluma and refers to a “guest-room,” whereas the Greek word that is properly translated “inn” is pandoxeion, which is used in Lk 10:34. 25) 4.