Bible Review Sheet
Jesus’ Birth and Early Ministry
Identify these people and places
Mary – Engaged to Joseph, the mother of Jesus
2. Joseph – Engaged to Mary, the father of Jesus.
3. Gabriel – The angel who delivered messages from God to Mary and Zechariah
4. Zechariah – The father of John the Baptist. An angel told him that he wouldn’t be able
1.
to speak until his son was born.
5. Elizabeth – Cousin of Mary and mother of John the Baptist
6. John the Baptist – Last prophet of the Bible, Organized a huge ministry preparing the
people for the coming of Jesus. Baptized many, including Jesus, in the Jordan River.
7. Herod – The king who ordered the killing of the boy babies in Bethlehem in an attempt
to kill the newborn ‘King of the Jews’. His decree forced Joseph and Mary to flee to Egypt
to protect their son, Jesus.
8. Caesar Augustus – The Roman ruler who ordered the census.
9. Simeon – The old man who held the baby Jesus in the temple.
10. Anna – The prophetess who saw baby Jesus in the temple.
11. Bethlehem – The town where Jesus was born.
12. Jerusalem – Site of the Temple and Herod’s palace. Jews travelled here for the Passover
celebration. As a boy, Jesus talked here in the temple with the rabbi’s who found him
amazing.
13. Jordan River – Site of much of John the Baptists ministry and Jesus’ baptism.
14. Nazareth – The town where Jesus grew up.
15. Cana – Jesus performed his first miracle at a wedding in this town.
16. Judea – One of the three provinces in Israel, The most prestigious province where all the
important people lived and the important events took place. Anyone who didn’t live in
this province was considered second-rate, even if they were Jewish.
17. Galilee – One of the three provinces in Israel. It was considered an undesirable place to
live. It had a mixed population of Jews and foreigners.
18. Samaria – The last province in Israel. It’s citizens were called Samaritans, and the Jews
disliked them. Jewish people did their best to even avoid even travelling through this
province.
19. Pharisee - Meaning ‘separated ones’. One of the religious leaders of Israel. Followed the
oral law and had a complicated set of laws that they believed all should follow.
20. Sadducee – A political leader in Israel. Didn’t accept the oral law, but followed only the
written law. They were content with Roman Law. Disagreed with the Pharisees on almost
everything.
21. Sanhedrin – The court of Ancient Israel consisting of 70 members and included both
Pharisees and Sadducees.
22. Nicodemus – A Pharisee who came to believe in Jesus. Jesus explained to him that in
order to be saved, he needed to be born again.
Be able to list and describe the three temptations of Jesus in the
wilderness.
1.
Turn stones into bread – Jesus responds with ‘Man does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes from God.
2. Jump from the temple and let angels catch Him – Jesus responds with “Do not put
the Lord, your God, to the test’.
3. Bow to Satan to become ruler over all the Kingdoms of the earth – Jesus responds
“Away from me, Satan”.
Know the story of Nicodemus (True and False Questions)
Nicodemus was a Pharisee who wanted to know more about Jesus. He came to Jesus
at night so that he wouldn’t be seen by others. Jesus told Nicodemus that he needed to
be born again. Nicodemus didn’t see how it would be possible to actually be born
again. Jesus meant that we had to be spiritually reborn.
Jesus told Nicodemus about God’s plan for salvation and compared it to Moses lifting
the serpent up in the desert. The people who were bitten by the poisonous snakes had
to look up to the serpent to live. Just like the serpent that was lifted up, Jesus would be
lifted up on a cross, and people have to look to him to be saved from sin.
Nicodemus believed in Jesus and later defended him against the other Pharisees and
even helped prepare Jesus’ body after he was crucified.
The story of Nicodemus is followed by the story of Jesus reaching out to the Samaritan
woman at the well, giving her ‘life giving water’. These two stories highlight the
fact Jesus came to save EVERYONE!!
Based on our discussions, prepare answers for the following questions:

Although many bad things happened to the Israelites after the fall of their kingdom, how was
God using these events to prepare the world for the coming of Jesus? (Give at least 2 examples)

Why is it significant that Jesus was baptized and tempted in the wilderness? What did this
show/emphasize?
Be able to locate the following on a map of Israel:
Galilee, Judea, Samaria (province), Samaria (town), Judea, Jordan River, Sea of Galilee, Dead Sea,
Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Cana.