1. Before Easter

The apostle Peter apparently came from a Greek-speaking family in Bethsaida. His original name, Simon, is a Greek form of Simeon. His brother Andrew, with whom he worked as a fisherman in Capernaum, had a purely Greek name. Jesus called the brothers, who were at first attracted to John the Baptist, at the beginning of his public ministry (Mark 1:16–18; John 1:35–42).

Peter had a leading position among the 12 disciples and was given a new name denoting his character (Mark 3:16 and par.). Derived fr…