A reading from the book of John 1:35-42: John the Baptist was with two of his disciples and saw Jesus. John the Baptist said, "Behold, the Lamb of God." The 2 disciples followed Jesus and spent the day with him, listening to him. Andrew, one of the 2 disciples who spent the day with Jesus, went and found his brother Simon. He told Simon, "We have found the Messiah -the Christ!" and brought Simon to Jesus. Jesus said, "You will be called Peter."
In this gospel we see that Jesus starts to get followers - his first followers, also called disciples. The name Jesus gives - "Peter" - means rock. So, Jesus is saying that Peter is going to be a "rock" or a strong leader among the disciples.
Peter knew what his brother meant when Andrew said, "We have found the Messiah". "Messiah" means "annointed one" or "king" and the Jews (remember, John the Baptist, Jesus, and his followers were all Jews!) were expecting the Messiah - the king of the Jews. Now they have found him! Imagine how excited they were!
Questions to ask your child about this week's lesson:
1) Who was the Messiah and what does that word mean? (Jesus, the "annointed one" or "king")
2) What were Jesus' first followers called? (disciples)
3) What did Jesus name Simon and why? (Peter because he was going to be a strong leader of the disciples)