88 Fun Facts About Easter Bible

What 'separated and came to rest on each' of the believers at Pentecost, the event that ends the Easter season?

Tongues of fire came after 'a sound like the blowing of a violent wind' filled the house, and the believers 'began to speak in other tongues' that visitors each heard as their own language.

How did Judas identify Jesus to the armed crowd in the garden, a signal he had arranged in advance?

With a kiss and the words 'Greetings, Rabbi!' Judas marked his man, and Luke has Jesus ask whether he would betray the Son of Man with that greeting.

What did Pilate do in front of the crowd to declare himself innocent of Jesus's death, in Matthew alone?

He washed his hands, the origin of the phrase 'to wash your hands of' something; the gesture echoes a rite in Deuteronomy, where a town's elders wash theirs to disown an unsolved killing.

What does John record as Jesus's final words from the cross, spoken just before he bowed his head?

'It is finished' is one word in John's Greek, tetelestai, said after he took the drink; Luke's Jesus instead dies with a prayer and Mark's with a loud cry.

Which Hebrew cry from Psalm 118 did the crowds shout as Jesus rode into Jerusalem?

Hosanna meant 'save, we pray' in the psalm but had become a shout of praise; when children took up 'Hosanna to the Son of David' in the temple, the chief priests were indignant.

What flowed from Jesus's side when a soldier pierced it with a spear, a detail only John records?

Blood and water came out in 'a sudden flow', John says an eyewitness saw it, and later legend named the soldier Longinus and made him a saint.

How many people, roughly, were baptised after Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost, according to Acts 2?

About 3,000 were 'added to their number that day', a crowd swelled by pilgrims in Jerusalem from 'every nation under heaven' for the festival.

At which village, reached as Jesus approached Jerusalem, did he send two disciples to fetch a tethered colt?

Bethphage is where Matthew alone has the disciples bring back two animals, a donkey and her colt; Mark has them fetch a single colt that no one had ever ridden.

Which prophet wrote 'See, your king comes to you... riding on a donkey', the verse Matthew says the entry fulfilled?

Zechariah's next verse takes away the chariots and warhorses, so the donkey marks a king who comes to end war, not to wage it.

Whose tables did Jesus overturn in the temple courts in Holy Week, calling the place 'a den of robbers'?

The money changers swapped pilgrims' Roman coins for the Tyrian shekels the temple tax required, and Jesus also tipped over the benches of the dove sellers.

Which tree did Jesus curse on the road from Bethany for bearing nothing but leaves, so that it withered?

A fig tree withers 'immediately' in Matthew, but Mark splits the story in two, and the disciples only find it withered 'from the roots' the next morning.

For what did Jesus say the woman who poured perfume on his head at Bethany had prepared him, in Matthew 26?

His burial was what the perfume prepared him for, and he promised that 'wherever this gospel is preached' her act would be told 'in memory of her'.

How many demons does Mark 16 say Jesus had driven out of Mary Magdalene, the first to see him risen?

Seven demons are also mentioned by Luke 8, where Mary Magdalene is among the women funding Jesus's travels 'out of their own means'.

Where did Jesus and the disciples go after singing a hymn at the end of the Last Supper, per Matthew 26?

The Mount of Olives faces the temple across the Kidron Valley, and Judas knew where to lead the arresting party because Jesus often met his disciples in a garden there.

What did Jesus ask his Father to 'take from me' in Gethsemane, adding 'yet not as I will, but as you will'?

'This cup' echoes the prophets' image of the cup of God's wrath, which Isaiah pictures Jerusalem draining 'to its dregs'.

Which Aramaic word does Mark alone record Jesus using to address God as he prayed in Gethsemane?

Abba is Aramaic for 'father', and Paul keeps the Aramaic word in his Greek letters to Rome and Galatia, each time beside its translation: 'Abba, Father'.

How many legions of angels did Jesus say his Father could send him at the arrest, in Matthew 26?

'More than twelve legions' would top 60,000 at Roman strength, and Jesus said he would not call them so that 'the Scriptures' could be fulfilled.

How did a young man following Jesus escape the arresting party in Mark 14, once they seized his linen garment?

Naked, 'leaving his garment behind', he fled, and because no other Gospel has the episode, many readers have guessed the young man was Mark himself.

How many times does Mark say the rooster would crow before Peter disowned Jesus three times, unlike the other Gospels?

Twice is Mark's count, and 'the rooster crowed the second time' as Peter broke down and wept, a detail the other three Gospels trim to one crow.

How did Jesus end his rebuke to the sleeping Peter in Gethsemane, 'Couldn't you keep watch with me for…'?

One hour is the span in his rebuke, and he went off to pray two more times, each time coming back to find the three asleep, 'exhausted from sorrow' as Luke puts it.

Where did Jesus tell Pilate his kingdom was from, adding that otherwise 'my servants would fight' to prevent his arrest?

'Not of this world' is how Jesus described his kingdom, in a private exchange John sets inside the governor's palace, which the priests would not enter for fear of becoming unclean.

Which Aramaic name does John give the 'Stone Pavement' where Pilate sat on the judge's seat to sentence Jesus?

Gabbatha was long shown to pilgrims as the Roman paving beneath Jerusalem's Sisters of Zion convent, but archaeologists date those flagstones to Hadrian's rebuilt city, a century after Pilate.

What did Pilate's soldiers twist together and set on Jesus's head, mocking him with a scarlet robe and staff?

A crown of thorns venerated as the original was bought by France's King Louis IX, who built the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris to house it.

Which title, abbreviated INRI on crucifixes, did Pilate's notice above the cross give Jesus of Nazareth?

King of the Jews was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek, and when the chief priests asked for a rewrite Pilate answered 'What I have written, I have written'.

Which prophet did bystanders think Jesus was calling when he cried 'Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani' from the cross?

Elijah was expected to return before the Messiah, and the cry is actually the opening line of Psalm 22 in Aramaic.

What was soaked into a sponge and lifted to Jesus's lips on a hyssop stalk after he said 'I am thirsty'?

Wine vinegar was the cheap sour wine Roman soldiers drank, and the hyssop recalls the plant used to mark doorposts at the exodus from Egypt.

Which name does the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus give the penitent thief crucified beside Jesus?

Dismas, never named in the Bible, is the thief Luke has Jesus promise 'today you will be with me in paradise'; the same tradition calls the mocking thief Gestas.

Who does Matthew say rolled back the stone from the tomb and sat on it?

An angel of the Lord arrived with an earthquake, his appearance 'like lightning', and the guards 'shook and became like dead men' while the women were told not to be afraid.

In its oldest manuscripts, Mark's Gospel ends abruptly with the women at the empty tomb doing what?

Saying nothing to anyone 'because they were afraid' is where the two oldest manuscripts stop, at verse 8; the dozen verses that follow in most Bibles were added later.

Which Aramaic word did Mary Magdalene cry out when the risen Jesus said her name in the garden?

Rabboni, which John glosses as 'Teacher', came the moment he said 'Mary'; until then she had taken him for the gardener.

When, per John 20, did the risen Jesus return to the locked room, this time with Thomas present?

The following Sunday, 'a week later' in John's words, the doors were locked again, and he told Thomas to put a finger where the nails had been and 'stop doubting and believe'.

What did Thomas exclaim when the risen Jesus showed him his wounds in the locked room?

'My Lord and my God' drew the reply 'blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed', and tradition sent Thomas on to preach in India.

Where did the women at the empty tomb hear the risen Jesus was 'going ahead of' his followers, per Matthew 28?

Galilee, where Matthew then sets the final meeting on a mountain, is the region where the disciples had first been called from their fishing nets.

In whose name does Matthew's Great Commission tell the disciples to baptise 'all nations'?

Father, Son and Holy Spirit is the three-fold formula of Matthew 28, yet Acts reports the first baptisms simply 'in the name of Jesus Christ'.

What did the risen Jesus tell Peter after asking 'Do you love me?' three times on the lakeshore, in John 21?

Feed my sheep was the third charge after 'Feed my lambs' and 'Take care of my sheep', three commissions long read as answering Peter's three denials.

Which greeting did the risen Jesus give on appearing among the disciples behind locked doors on Easter evening?

'Peace be with you' comes before and after he shows them his hands and side in John's account, and Luke adds that they thought they were seeing a ghost.

To more than how many believers 'at the same time' did Paul say the risen Christ appeared, in 1 Corinthians 15?

More than 500 saw him at once, Paul wrote, adding that most of them 'are still living', an open invitation to go and ask them.

How far from Jerusalem does Acts 1 put the hill from which the disciples returned after watching Jesus ascend?

A Sabbath day's walk was about 2,000 cubits, under a mile, the farthest rabbinic law let a Jew travel on the day of rest, a figure taken from the pasture belt around the Levites' towns.

Which prisoner, jailed for murder during an uprising, did the crowd ask Pilate to free instead of Jesus?

Barabbas appears as 'Jesus Barabbas' in some manuscripts of Matthew, which turns Pilate's question into a choice between two men named Jesus.

With what did Mary of Bethany wipe Jesus dry after pouring a pint of expensive perfume over him in John 12?

Her hair did the work of a towel, and the perfume was pure nard worth a year's wages, enough that its fragrance filled the whole house.

What did Jesus do for his disciples at the Last Supper in John 13 that Peter at first refused to accept?

Jesus washed their feet with a basin and a towel tied round his waist, then told them they should do the same for each other.

What did the chief priests count out for Judas Iscariot in Matthew 26 when he offered to hand Jesus over?

Thirty pieces of silver did not stay with Judas for long: Matthew says he was seized with remorse and threw the money into the temple.

Which part of a man's body did one of Jesus's followers slice off with a sword during the arrest in the garden?

An ear was lost and, in Luke's telling, promptly restored: Jesus said 'No more of this!', touched the wound and healed the man.

Which passer-by, the father of Alexander and Rufus, did Roman soldiers force to carry Jesus's cross?

Simon of Cyrene came from a Greek city in what is now eastern Libya, and was simply on his way in from the country when the soldiers seized him.

Which rich council member asked Pilate for Jesus's body and laid it in his own new rock-cut tomb?

Joseph of Arimathea had kept his discipleship secret for fear of the Jewish leaders, John says, yet he went boldly to the governor once Jesus was dead.

Toward which village were Cleopas and a companion walking when the risen Jesus joined them unrecognised in Luke 24?

Emmaus was reached before the pair worked out who their fellow traveller was: they knew him only at the supper table, and he vanished from their sight at once.

What did the risen Jesus eat in front of his startled disciples in Luke 24 to show he was no ghost?

Broiled fish settled the matter: he had just invited them to touch him, saying a ghost 'does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have'.

For how long did the risen Jesus keep appearing to his apostles before he was taken up, according to Acts 1?

Forty days is why churches traditionally keep Ascension Day on a Thursday, the fortieth day of Easter when Easter Day itself is counted.

Which man did the chief priests plan to kill along with Jesus in John 12, because crowds were flocking to see him?

Lazarus had been raised from the dead by Jesus at Bethany, and so many people were going over to Jesus on his account that the priests wanted both men gone.

Branches of which tree did the crowd in John 12 carry out to meet Jesus as he approached Jerusalem for the festival?

Palm branches were an ancient symbol of victory, and only John names the tree: Matthew and Mark mention just branches, without saying what kind.

What did the crowd spread on the road ahead of Jesus as he rode into Jerusalem, alongside branches cut from trees?

Their cloaks made a royal carpet, the gesture that greeted Jehu in 2 Kings 9, when men spread theirs under him, blew the trumpet and shouted 'Jehu is king!'

Which 'new command', the origin of the name Maundy Thursday, did Jesus give his disciples at the Last Supper in John 13?

Love one another is the 'mandatum', Latin for commandment, that gave Maundy Thursday its name; Jesus said it would show everyone who his disciples were.

To which plant did Jesus liken himself in his farewell words to the disciples in John 15, calling them its branches?

The vine let him make a point about staying close: 'No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine,' he told them.

Of which food did Jesus say 'this is my body' as he gave it to his disciples at the Last Supper?

Bread from that meal became the centre of Christian worship: he told them 'do this in remembrance of me', the origin of Holy Communion.

Which prophet's three-day ordeal did Jesus call a sign of his own coming days in the tomb?

Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, and Jesus said the Son of Man would spend as long 'in the heart of the earth'.

What hid the rising Jesus from the apostles' sight in Acts 1 as they stood staring up into the sky?

A cloud took him out of view, and two men dressed in white then asked the apostles why they were still standing there looking up.

To which meal did the risen Jesus call his disciples ashore in John 21, when none dared ask who he was?

Breakfast was already cooking when their boat came in early in the morning, and it was the third time he had appeared to them since being raised.

Whom did two men in gleaming robes ask the women at Jesus's tomb why they were seeking 'among the dead'?

The living was the point: the men went on to say 'He is not here; he has risen', and the frightened women bowed with their faces to the ground.

Which Roman province did Pontius Pilate govern for about ten years, the period in which he sentenced Jesus to death?

Judea was a posting of relatively low prestige, and nothing is known of how Pilate came by it; he was the province's fifth governor.

Which name, from the Latin for 'to suffer', do Christians give Jesus's final days up to his crucifixion?

The Passion gave its name to Passion plays, the dramas of Jesus's last days that are still staged at intervals at Oberammergau in Germany.

Which word of praise do Catholic and many Protestant churches stop singing for the whole of Lent before Easter?

Alleluia, the Latin form of the Hebrew hallelujah, gives way in those churches to a plainer Lenten acclamation until the Easter services bring it back.

How did Jesus respond to the chief priests' accusations before Pilate, to the governor's great amazement?

He stayed silent, making no reply 'not even to a single charge'; he had answered only the governor's own first question, with the words 'You have said so'.

What had Mary Magdalene and two other women bought for Jesus's body before setting out for the tomb at sunrise?

Spices were for anointing the body, but the women's worry on the road was a practical one: who would roll the heavy stone away from the entrance.

Which high priest, son-in-law of Annas, had advised that it would be good if one man died for the people?

Caiaphas may have left a physical trace: an ornate bone box carved with his family name turned up in a cave tomb in Jerusalem in 1990.

Which Jewish council, led by the high priest, sought evidence against Jesus on the night of his arrest?

The Sanhedrin heard many witnesses whose statements did not agree, Mark says, and early in the morning it had Jesus bound and handed over to Pilate.

Of which offence did the high priest declare Jesus guilty after asking under oath whether he was the Messiah?

Blasphemy carried a death sentence under the law of Leviticus, yet before the Roman governor the accusation changed to opposing Caesar's taxes and claiming to be a king.

Who first challenged Peter in the high priest's courtyard with the words 'You also were with Jesus'?

A servant girl was only the first: bystanders soon told Peter 'your accent gives you away', and he swore that he did not know the man.

To which ruler, long eager to see Jesus perform a sign, did Pilate send the prisoner for questioning in Luke 23?

Herod got no sign and no answers, so he and his soldiers mocked Jesus and sent him back in an elegant robe; that day he and Pilate, old enemies, became friends.

Who sent Pilate a message during the trial of Jesus urging him to leave 'that innocent man' alone after a bad dream?

His wife is left nameless by Matthew, the only Gospel to mention her; later tradition called her Procula, and several Eastern churches honour her as a saint.

Which question did Pilate throw back at Jesus in John 18 before telling the crowd he found no basis for a charge?

"What is truth?" was Pilate's retort when Jesus said he had been born to testify to the truth, and the governor walked out without waiting for a reply.

Which Latin phrase, Pilate's words in John 19, names paintings of him showing the scourged Jesus to the crowd?

Ecce homo, 'Behold the man', is what the Latin Bible has Pilate say in John 19; Hieronymus Bosch painted the scene, and Rembrandt turned it into a print.

Which Jerusalem street, marked by Stations of the Cross, do pilgrims walk as the route Jesus took to his crucifixion?

Via Dolorosa is Latin for 'Sorrowful Way', and the winding route has followed its present course only since the 18th century.

What was the man carrying whom Jesus told two disciples to follow to find the room for the Last Supper?

A jar of water was the sign to look for: the man led them to a house whose owner showed them a large upstairs room, furnished and ready.

What did Jesus do as Jerusalem came into view in Luke 19, foretelling that enemies would one day encircle the city?

He wept over it and warned that the city would be dashed to the ground; a church built in the shape of a teardrop, Dominus Flevit, now recalls the moment.

Which seed did Jesus say must fall to the ground and die to produce many seeds, foretelling his death in John 12?

Wheat was his picture of a death that multiplies: a kernel that does not die 'remains only a single seed', he said after some Greeks asked to see him.

Which story did the chief priests pay the tomb guards to spread in Matthew 28, promising to square it with the governor?

'Disciples stole the body' while the guards slept was the line, bought with a large sum of money; Matthew says the tale was still going round in his own day.

Which natural event does Matthew alone report both when Jesus died and when the tomb was opened at dawn?

An earthquake split rocks and broke open tombs at the moment of death, Matthew says, and a second, violent one came as the stone was rolled back.

What did the women's news of the empty tomb sound like to the apostles in Luke 24, who refused to believe it?

Nonsense is how their words struck the apostles, yet Peter still got up and ran to the tomb, where he found only strips of linen lying by themselves.

Which words complete the risen Jesus's closing promise in Matthew 28: 'I am with you always, to the very end of…'?

'The age' ends Matthew's whole Gospel, the last words of a book that opened by calling Jesus Immanuel, which means 'God with us'.

Which prophet wrote of a sufferer 'pierced for our transgressions', words Christians read as foretelling the cross?

Isaiah's poem about the sufferer is what an Ethiopian official was reading in his chariot in Acts 8 when Philip used it to tell him about Jesus.

Who was chosen by lot to take the place of Judas Iscariot among the apostles after the ascension, in Acts 1?

Matthias beat one other nominee, a man known as Justus, when the apostles prayed and cast lots; the New Testament tells us nothing more about him.

What did the chief priests buy with the coins Judas threw back into the temple, as a cemetery for foreigners?

A potter's field was the priests' answer to a legal problem: they ruled that the returned coins could not lawfully go back into the temple treasury.

What mixture, weighing about seventy-five pounds, did Nicodemus bring to prepare Jesus's body for the tomb in John 19?

Myrrh and aloes were wrapped in with the body in strips of linen, and John notes that Nicodemus was the man who had earlier visited Jesus at night.

Which Roman emperor, who retired to the island of Capri, was reigning when Pontius Pilate had Jesus crucified?

Tiberius is named in Luke's Gospel, which dates the start of John the Baptist's preaching to the fifteenth year of his reign.

Which prophet's line 'your old men will dream dreams' did Peter quote at Pentecost to explain the apostles' behaviour?

Joel was Peter's reply to onlookers who thought the apostles were drunk; it was only nine in the morning, he pointed out.

Which valley did Jesus cross with his disciples to reach the garden where he was arrested, according to John 18?

Kidron starts just north-east of Jerusalem's Old City and runs down to the Dead Sea; Judas knew the garden beyond it because Jesus often met his disciples there.

By which Latin name do the Gospels call the governor's headquarters where Pilate's soldiers mocked Jesus?

The Praetorium first meant a general's tent in a Roman camp, and it was there that a whole company of soldiers gathered round the prisoner.

Which harvest term does Paul apply to the risen Christ in 1 Corinthians 15, 'of those who have fallen asleep'?

Firstfruits were the opening portion of a harvest offered to God, and Paul's point is that more will follow: 'then, when he comes, those who belong to him'.