Why did Jesus favor Peter, James, and John?

[Twelfth_Night]

In a number of places in the Gospels, such as the Transfiguration for example, Jesus singles out Peter, James, and John to accompany him. Why would he choose to have them take part in some things, but not the other disciples? I can understand Peter and John, since Peter was to be head of the Church and John was Jesus’ favorite, but why James?

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

We can only speculate, but one possibility is that Jesus was forming Peter, James, and John into a symbolic trio that represents the body, mind, and spirit of man. Symbolic trios are most often found in literature and mythology (e.g., Star Wars’ Han Solo, Princess Leia, and Luke Skywalker), but there is no reason why Jesus could not have used what would become a human convention to make a point. If this is the case, then my guess is that Peter represents the body (the weakest part of the symbolic trio, often stumbling because of selfish desire) and John represents the spirit or heart (he rested on Jesus’ chest at the Last Supper and is symbolized in Christian art by the eagle). That leaves James to represent the mind. The interesting thing though is that there is nothing really in the Gospels to indicate the mind of the brother of the apostle John. Of the three, we know the least about John’s brother James. But it may be that in itself is a clue, since Scripture indicates that human knowledge of God, however vast to us, is finite and miniscule in comparison to God’s knowledge. As the apostle Paul would say in his letter to the Romans:

O, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor? Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?” (Rom. 11:33-35).