Which Gospel? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Luke

Although Mark, Luke, and Matthew use the same source material, called Q by biblical scholars, a great many of the best-known parables are found only in Luke.

In Luke 10:25-37, we read of the commandment to "love your neighbor as yourself" (v. 27), but an expert in Mosaic law, apparently wishing to narrow down whom one is obligated to love, asks "Who is my neighbor?" (v. 29). So Jesus tells the story of a person who was beaten and robbed and left for dead. Two members of the Jewish priestly class, presumably models of righteousness, pass him by. Only a Samaritan, a member of a religion reviled for heresy and schism from Judaism, stops and helps. "Go and do likewise", says Jesus to the scholar (Lk 10:37).

Some like St. Augustine interpret the parable as an allegory of Christ's mercy to sinners, but a more popular interpretation is an ethical one. If a Samaritan can have mercy on a Jew, surely a Jew can have mercy on a Samaritan; in other words, *everyone* is our neighbor. In the West, "Good Samaritan" is often used as a synonym for a person who acts with charity and ethics. "Good Samaritan laws" protect people who try to help in emergencies out of kindness, without expectation of payment, from liability claims.

Answer: Luke

The story of the Prodigal Son is one of the best-known parables in Luke's Gospel. An elder son stays and works hard for his father, while his younger brother takes an advance on his inheritance and wastes it. Starving, he comes home and begs forgiveness. His father has a celebration and commands his servants: "Take the fattened calf and slaughter it" (Luke 15:23b DRA). The elder son is upset, for his industry had never been so rewarded. The father explains, "Son, thou art always with me, and all I have is thine. But it was fit that we should make merry and be glad, for this thy brother was dead and is come to life again; he was lost, and is found" (Luke 15:31b-32 DRA).

"Prodigal" means rashly and wastefully extravagant, and because this is no longer a common word in English, other names have arisen. The story is labelled The Parable of the Lost Son in the NABRE, while another name is The Forgiving Father, to emphasize God's forgiveness.

As recently as 1968, Benjamin Britten composed an opera about The Prodigal Son.

Answer: Luke

Luke is particularly concerned with Christ's attitude toward the poor and the wealthy, and this is one example, found in Luke 16:19-31.

In this parable, a rich man (unnamed*) and a beggar named Lazarus die. Lazurus finds himself at Abraham's side, while the rich man finds himself in torment. The rich man begs Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his family lest they find themselves meeting his fate. Abraham replies, "If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead" (Lk 16:31).

*The editors of the NABRE note that the rich man's name may have been Nineveh, though there is little support outside of one manuscript.

Answer: Luke

Zacchaeus was a tax collector who, being not very tall, climbed a sycamore tree to see Jesus as he passed through Jericho. Jesus spied him and called him by name, asking him to come down so that he could visit him at his house. The crowd was shocked because tax collectors were reviled as corrupt traitors.

This is not a parable but a pericope, a selection from the Gospel used to illustrate a particular lesson, in this case that the Good News of salvation was meant for everyone -- particularly sinners.

Zacchaeus is Latinized from the Hebrew Zakkay, meaning "pure, innocent". True to his name, Zacchaeus is the inverse of the Rich Young Man (also in Luke, 18:18-23) who would not give up his wealth, while Zacchaeus gave half to the poor.

Answer: Matthew

Matthew in chapters 5-7 details the Sermon on the Mount, in which Jesus climbs a hill and addresses crowds of people in Galilee. It begins with the Eight Beatitudes, which start with, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." There are also teachings on adultery, divorce, oaths, retaliation, love of enemy, almsgiving, fasting, and much more. The prayer known as the Lord's Prayer or the Our Father (Pater Noster) is introduced here (Mt 6:9-13), as is the dictum not to "throw your pearls before swine" (Mt 7:6). The Sermon is central to Matthew's gospel.

There is an abridged set of Four Beatitudes in Luke 6:20-22, but it is set in the Sermon on the Plain and is followed by the Four Woes. Luke also contains a shorter version of the Our Father (Lk 11:1-4).

Answer: Matthew

Also called "The Judgment of Nations", the parable is found in Matthew 25:31-46 and describes the judgment that takes place during the parousia, also known as the Second Advent or the Second Coming of Christ.

To the right of the Son of Man will be the sheep, or those who will inherit the kingdom, and to the goats, or those who will suffer perdition, will be on his left. He tells the sheep, "...I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me" (Mt 25:35-36). They asked when they did this, and they are told, "...whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me" (v. 41). The goats are punished for failing to help: "Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me" (v. 46).

The parable is taken by Christians, especially by Catholics and Methodists, as a command to perform corporal works of mercy, that is, to take care of the material needs of the vulnerable and less fortunate. The Sheep and The Goats appear in the last bit of the section of Matthew (Ch 24-25) called either the Olivet Discourse because it was told on the Mount of Olives or the Little Apocalypse because of the apocalyptic language used.

Answer: Matthew

Found in Matthew 25:1-13, the story is also called the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins, among other names. In a nutshell, the wise young ladies had lamps ready for the arrival of the bridgegroom, while the foolish ones did not. Jesus explicitly tells his audience that the lesson is to be prepared for Judgement Day.

This very popular parable was performed as a mystery play from Late Antiquity until the Renaissance, and carvings of the ten bridesmaids can be found above doors and on ceilings of churches and other edifices built during the Middle Ages. Swedish composer Kurt Atterberg wrote a ballet about the 10 virgins in 1920, and William Walton wrote his ballet "The Wise Virgins" in 1941, using music from Bach.

Answer: Mark

Although Mark comes second in the New Testament, scholars generally agree that he wrote his Gospel first. Of the four Evangelists, only Mark calls his Gospel a gospel at the very start: "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ [the Son of God]*" (Mark 1:1). It is unclear why the other canonical Evangelists did not continue this usage.

*Translation note: Why the brackets? The editors of the NABRE note that "some important manuscripts here omit 'the Son of God'", but it is left in presumably because older and more familiar translations leave the words in.

Answer: Mark

Only Mark gives us this very short parable:

"This is how it is with the kingdom of God; it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land and would sleep and rise night and day and the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how. Of its own accord the land yields fruit, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. And when the grain is ripe, he wields the sickle at once, for the harvest has come." (Mark 4:26-29

Here Jesus describes the power of seed to grow without human intervention. Likewise God's Kingdom, sown by Christ proclaiming the Good News, will grow until established in the Final Judgment.

Answer: John

In the prologue to his Gospel, John recalls the first words of the Old Testament, "In the beginning..." (Genesis 1:1). He writes:

"In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God
He was in the beginning with God.

All things came to be through him,
and without him nothing came to be.
What came to be through him was life,
and this life was the light of the human race;
the light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness has not overcome it" (John 1:1-5)

John introduces the themes of his gospel: light, the pre-existence of the Son, and the Word Incarnate.

"And the Word became flesh
and made his dwelling among us" (John 1:14a).

The poetical structure of the prologue has led some to suppose that it may have been an early Christian hymn. John is the last of the four Gospels to be written, about A.D. 90-100, and the emphasis on the incarnate aspect of Jesus may have been in response to the heresy of docetism, which denies that Christ had a proper body, emerging at the time.

The description of Christ as the Word or Logos (to use the original Greek) appears only in this gospel. John is also the only gospel in which Christ calls Himself the bread of life (6:35), the light of world (8:12), and the vine (15:5).

Answer: John

Each of the three Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke) has a slightly different composition of the group of women who discover the empty tomb, though they all include Mary Magdalene, also called Mary of Magdala or simply the Magdalene. Only John has the Magdalene making the discovery on her own.

In John's account, Mary, without appearing to enter the tomb, runs back and informs Peter and the beloved disciple (presumed by many to be John himself), who investigate. Later she returns to the tomb, looks inside, and sees two angels. She also sees Jesus outside and speaks to him. He cautions her in John 20:17, "Noli me tangere" (Vulgate) or "Touch me not" (KJV) because he has not yet ascended to Heaven. He instructs her to return to the disciples and report what she has seen, and she does so. Beginning in Late Antiquity, there has been an entire genre of "Noli me tangere" art depicting this scene.

Translation notes: More modern translations say things like "Stop holding on to me" (NABRE) or "stop clinging", thought to be a little closer to the Koine Greek in which John wrote his Gospel, though less poetic. The Koine Greek phrase is "mé mou háptou".

Answer: John

This event is found only in the Gospel of John 20:19-29.

The night that Mary Magdalene reports to the Twelve that she has seen Jesus Christ walking the Earth again, he makes an appearance before them. The apostle named Thomas missed this appearance, and he expresses skepticism: "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe" (Jn 20:24b). Christ appears before the group and invites Doubting Thomas to do just that. Thomas regrets his words. Jesus says, "Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed" (Jn 20:29).

The Incredulity of Saint Thomas, as it is formally called in art, has inspired mosaics, icons, and paintings since the 6th century. Some of the more famous works include a painting by Caravaggio (c. 1602) and a triptych by Peter Paul Rubens (c. 1615).