Answer: Solomon
Reference: Matthew 6:28–30
Insight: Jesus used Solomon’s splendor to put worry in perspective. If God clothes ordinary flowers so beautifully, His people can trust Him to care for them.
Bible Stumpers
11 People God / Jesus Pointed To as Examples
We usually remember famous biblical figures for their biggest moments. But when God / Jesus brought them up, it was often to teach a very specific, unexpected lesson.
Dive into these 10 questions below to test your memory, then give the bonus stumper your best shot.
1. Which king, according to Jesus, could not match the beauty of a single lily, even in all his glory?
2. When His disciples were criticized for picking grain on the Sabbath, whose surprising meal did Jesus bring up in their defense?
Answer: David
Reference: Matthew 12:1–7
Insight: David and his companions had eaten consecrated bread reserved for priests. Jesus challenged His critics to recognize human need and understand God’s desire for mercy.
3. Which man did God specifically describe as having “a different spirit” and following Him wholeheartedly?
Answer: Caleb
Reference: Numbers 14:22–24
Insight: Caleb faced the same obstacles as everyone else, but responded differently. God distinguished his wholehearted trust from the unbelief surrounding him.
4. Jesus reminded His hometown audience that many Israelites had leprosy in Elisha’s day, but which foreigner was cleansed?
Answer: Naaman
Reference: Luke 4:27–29
Insight: Jesus pointed to a Syrian as a recipient of God’s mercy. His examples challenged the crowd’s expectations, and their response was rage rather than gratitude.
5. Which woman did Jesus praise for choosing “the good portion,” even though her sister wanted Him to tell her to help with the work?
Answer: Mary of Bethany (Martha’s sister)
Reference: Luke 10:38–42
Insight: Mary was sitting at Jesus’ feet, listening. Jesus defended her choice, reminding us that serving Him should not crowd out listening to Him. Luke never names the village, but John 11 identifies Mary and Martha as living in Bethany, which is why she is often called Mary of Bethany.
6. When Jesus condemned the shedding of righteous blood, whose name did He use to begin the long history of victims?
Answer: Abel
Reference: Matthew 23:34–35
Insight: Jesus explicitly called Abel righteous. His murder stood at the beginning of a history of violence against the righteous that Jesus’ hearers were in danger of continuing.
7. Jesus compared His return to the days of which man, when people were eating, drinking, and marrying, unaware that disaster was about to overtake them?
Answer: Noah
Reference: Matthew 24:37–39
Insight: Jesus emphasized how ordinary life continued right up to the flood. The warning is unsettling: life can feel perfectly normal while judgment is approaching.
8. God revealed Himself to other prophets through visions and dreams, but said He spoke “face to face” with which faithful servant?
Answer: Moses
Reference: Numbers 12:6–8
Insight: When Moses’ own siblings challenged him, God defended him. God singled out both his faithfulness and the unusually direct way He communicated with him.
9. When people claimed this patriarch as their father, Jesus challenged them to do what he did. Whose example were they failing to follow?
Answer: Abraham
Reference: John 8:39–40
Insight: Jesus challenged them to follow Abraham’s example, not simply claim him as their ancestor. A godly heritage should be reflected in how we live.
10. God named Noah, Job, and which other man when warning that even these righteous men could not rescue a rebellious land?
Answer: Daniel
Reference: Ezekiel 14:14, 20
Insight: In the judgment God described, these men could deliver only themselves, not even their own children. Their righteousness highlighted the seriousness of the land’s guilt, not an escape from personal accountability.
Bonus: Jesus traced the blood of the righteous from Abel to one other man, “whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.” Who was he?
Answer: Zechariah
Reference: Matthew 23:35; Luke 11:51; compare 2 Chronicles 24:20–22
Insight: Many interpreters connect this murder with Zechariah, son of Jehoiada, who was stoned in the temple courtyard. Because Chronicles closes the traditional Jewish ordering of Scripture, the pairing is often understood as spanning the biblical story from Genesis to Chronicles. The identification is debated because Matthew names a different father, Berechiah. But Jesus’ central point is clear: His hearers were continuing a long history of rejecting and killing God’s messengers.
Which person surprised you most?
