Mark the Location Trivia Quiz

Answer:

Nazareth in Galilee was the hometown of Jesus. Biblical references to Nazareth are mostly in the New Testament. For example in Mark 1:24 at the synagogue in Capernaum, he was identified as Jesus of Nazareth.

At Mark 1:9, Jesus came from Nazareth to be baptised in the Jordan River by John the Baptist. The Jordan River is mentioned many times (over 150 times) in the Bible, running as it does between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea. However, it is only mentioned twice in Mark, at 1:5 and 1:9.

Capernaum was one of the main bases for Jesus' ministry. He was teaching at the synagogue there in Mark 1:21. In Mark 2:1-4, he was preaching to a gathering at Capernaum when a paralysed man was lowered for healing through an opening made in the roof. In Mark 9:33 Jesus travelled to Capernaum with his disciples.

The Sea of Galilee gets a few mentions in the Gospel of Mark. Jesus was walking beside the Sea in Mark 1:16 when he recruited four of his disciples. He did some of his teaching there (e.g. Mark 2:13, 3:7 and 4:1). Where 'lake' is mentioned, it is understood to be the Sea of Galilee. He also calmed a storm (Mark 4:39) and walked on water (Mark 6:48).

Mark 5:1-20 tells the story of the tomb-living man named Legion with impure spirits who came up to Jesus at Gerasenes. The demons were cast into a herd of around 2,000 pigs which then drowned themselves in the nearby lake. The man was told to go back to home to Decapolis to tell his story. Matthew and Luke also record the event.

After the feeding of the 5,000, Jesus told his disciples to go ahead of him to Bethsaida (Mark 6:45). Jesus himself went up on a mountainside to pray. Bethsaida was also where in Mark 8:22 a blind man was brought to Him for healing. He spat in his eyes and placed hands on him in the process of effecting a cure.

In Tyre, Jesus was seeking to keep His presence quiet. This proved unachievable. A Greek woman sought help to drive a demon away from her daughter (Mark 7: 24-30). Tyre was regarded as a mainly Gentile region. Tyre was also one of the places people came from when hearing of the things Jesus was doing (Mark 3:8).

After the healing of the blind man (see earlier), Jesus and his disciples moved to the villages around Caesarea Philippi (Mark 8:27). It was here that Peter declared that Jesus was the Messiah (Mark 8:29). This event is recorded in more detail in Matthew 16:13-20.

As noted earlier, in the casting of demons into pigs story, the Decapolis was where the cured man returned to (Mark 5:20). The Decapolis region was also where the healing of the deaf and mute man took place (Mark 7:31-36).

All four Gospels mention Jerusalem, albeit with a different emphasis in each. In the Gospel of Mark, Jerusalem appears at least a dozen times, mostly in chapters 11-16 where the Passion Week is described.

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As for the wrong answers, the early life of Jesus (including mention of Bethlehem) is covered Matthew and Luke, Corinth is a city where Paul wrote letters (Acts; 1 Corinthians), Ephesus was centre of Paul's ministry (Acts; Ephesians), Nain is only mentioned in connection with the story of raising the widow's son (Luke 7:11), the island of Patmos is linked to John's exile (Revelations), and the Greek city of Thessalonica is where Paul preached and wrote his letters (Acts, 1 Thessalonians).