Did Jesus Have an Inner Circle?

Saturday, 24th October 2009

I wonder whether any of you have heard this theory that Jesus had an "inner circle" among His disciples -- made up of Peter, James and John. While we read about Him travelling about with His 12 disciples, there were 3 specific instances whereby He only took Peter, James and John with Him
1. At the raising of Jairus' daughter (Mk 5:37, Lk 8:51)
2. At His transfiguration (Mt 17:1, Mk 9:2, Lk 9:28)
3. In the Garden of Gethsemane (Mt 26:37, Mk 14:33)

At first glance, it would appear that He exercised favouritism to these 3 disciples. Why were the other 9 not given the privilege of experiencing the above?

It was only recently that I understand that it was not so much Jesus being partial to these 3. After all, He reserved some of the harshes rebuke for them. For example, Jesus said in Mt 16:23, "Get thee behind me satan" to Peter when the latter tried to discourage Him from going through the cup of suffering. Jesus said in Lk 9:55, "You know not what spirit you are" to James and John when they asked him whether they should command fire to come down from heaven to consume the Samaritans for not welcoming Him.

Rather, the significance is in the meaning behind the names of these 3 disciples.

Peter (G4074) Πέτρος (Petros) -- which means "rock or stone"
James (G2385) Ἰάκωβος (Lakabos) -- which means "supplanter"
John (G2491) Ἰωάννης (Johannes) -- which means "Yahweh's grace"

These 3 incidents whereby only the 3 said disciples were "invited exclusively" to witness was God's way of telling us that the Law had to make way for Grace!

This is seen most clearly at the mount of Transfiguration, where we read about how Moses and Elijah appear along with Jesus, but then disappear leaving only Jesus behind. God's voice then comes out from heaven and says, "This is my beloved Son. Listen to Him". That shows that the Law and the Prophets are fulfilled in Jesus.

In another post, I will blog about the other 2 incidents involving just Peter, James and John, namely the raising of Jairus' daughter and the garden of Gethsamane, whereby again we see that the Law has to make way to Grace.

So, did Jesus have an inner circle? Yes, He did. But it was not made up of Peter, James and John. Rather, it was made up of 2 other persons that have been with Him in the beginning -- God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.