Why were Peter, James, and John in the "inner circle" of Jesus?
One day, after I graduated from highschool, I wanted to know why Peter, James, and John, three apostles of Jesus, were closer to Jesus than the other nine apostles. (Indeed, why was John closer to Jesus than Peter and James?) I wanted to know this so that I could follow their example, so that I too may be close to Jesus.
On this day I was in an airport. While I waited for my flight, in the Bible, I searched the letters of Peter, specifically looking for the place where He spoke of the transfiguration of Jesus, the time when Jesus took him, James, and John on a mountain and let them see Him in His glory. I then searched the first letter of John, where He described seeing, hearing, and touching Jesus, and testifying of this first hand experience of the Savior. Finally, I searched the letter of James. At the time I didn't know that this James was not the brother of John, but instead was the brother of Jesus. (In other words, the James who was in Jesus' "inner circle" was dead, and the one who wrote the epistle of James was not the one I was focused on.) Yet God still used this search to give me the answer I sought.
I read through the letter of James and came to this verse:
"Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you."
And then it happened: The Holy Spirit spoke to me; clearly and simply:
"You can be as close to God as you want to be."
There it was, and there it is. They were closer to Jesus BECAUSE THEY WANTED TO BE!
There was no special quality or righteousness they possessed, no work that earned this privelege. They simply wanted to be close to Jesus, and they wanted this more than the rest. And John wanted this more than Peter and James. I searched the gospel of John to see if I could find evidence of this. What I saw was the assumption of the apostles, particularly Peter, that John was the "disciple Jesus loved." This being so, when the apostles wanted to know who Jesus referred to as His future betrayer, Peter nudged John to ask Jesus, while the rest feared to ask. John was sitting close to Jesus when this happened, resting his head on Jesus' chest. It seems as though John may have been the only disciple who remained with Jesus til the very end, being the only one mentioned at the cross; being the one Jesus left to care for His mother, even above His natural brothers.
And Peter clearly showed evidence of intense devotion to Jesus throughout his time as a disciple, being willing to die and kill for Jesus, though his heart failed in his denial. It was Peter who received the revelation of the Father concerning the identity of Christ. And it was Peter who walked with Jesus on water.
James and John, with their mother, requested to be on each side of Jesus' throne in the kingdom. Though the others were angry with this request, none of them seemed to protest the closeness of the brothers, or the close relation of the three, to Jesus. None of them seemed to protest the fact that Jesus would take Peter, James, and John to witness things that the others did not witness. The three were close to Jesus because they wanted to be.
Finally,
Please listen to the words of a prophet in the Old Testament:
Now the Spirit of God came on Azariah the son of Oded,
and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, "Listen to me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: the LORD is with you when you are with Him And if you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you. 2 Chronicles 15:1-2
According to the prophet Azariah,
When is the Lord with you?
THE LORD IS WITH YOU WHEN YOU ARE WITH HIM!
Please, once again, note the condition:
IF YOU SEEK HIM...
Key word: IF
It is up to you now, the one who has read this far. If YOU seek Him, HE WILL LET YOU FIND HIM!!!
Draw near to God, AND HE WILL DRAW NEAR TO YOU.
YOU CAN BE AS CLOSE TO GOD AS YOU WANT TO BE.
It's up to you now.
It is up to you.
Peace to you in the Name above all Names,
In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ,
Who died for us and rose for us,
So that we may be reunited to God as His children,
both now and forever!
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
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