Know a man by his friends

Peter, James and John were apparently Jesus’ inner circle. They were the three who witnessed the transfiguration and they were the three with Jesus in Gethsemane. If birds of a feather flock together what does this suggest about the nature of Jesus?

Peter was impetuous and often fell into gaffes that led to correction from Jesus. However, he was also a natural leader and his boldness was used by God to draw many to Christ. James and John were brothers. Jesus nicknamed them the sons of thunder. They were the ones that requested positions of authority in Jesus’ kingdom. They were not afraid to thrust themselves forward. In later times James became known as The Elder, using his initiative to lead and care for the fledgling church. John became the disciple of love, so known for his deep relationship with Jesus and his care for the church that he is hardly recognizable as the man who argued with the other disciples over who would be the greatest.

Why did Jesus choose these men to form his inner circle? What light does this shed on the nature of Jesus and therefore the nature of God? It tells us that Jesus is a man of bold action. Far from being weak and mild he will overturn tables, heap scorn on religious hypocrites, and shun political power. It tells us that Jesus will claim what is his boldly. He accepted worship, he asserted his uniqueness saying that he is the way, the truth and the life and he used divine prerogative to forgive sins. The three apostles were fishermen. They knew hard labor in all weather, at all hours. In a similar vein Jesus grew up as a carpenter, working hard. In his ministry he often taught and healed till late at night and then rose before sunrise to pray. When his cousin, John the Baptist, was killed he went to be alone but the crowds followed him and he had pity on them because no matter how his grief weighed on him he was moved more by the lost state of the crowd.

We see that the characteristics the apostles possessed, the ones that drew them into simpatico with Jesus, Jesus displayed these characteristics on a perfected scale. He is bold, but without being a respecter of persons. He is meek in the sense of knowing who he is and owning the responsibility of that knowledge. The apostles, as fishermen and then as followers of Christ, knew and lived up to who they were, but for Jesus being meek meant proclaiming himself to be God incarnate. This is not a meekness anyone else could ever have, but Jesus has it perfectly. In the end the apostles found that association with Jesus deepened and perfected the things they naturally shared with Jesus and changed other things inside them to bring them more into alignment with Jesus. This process is a characteristic we all possess to some degree rubbing off on those we associate with. But again, Jesus possesses it perfectly bringing imperfect people who spend time with him, learning from him and of him, into greater alignment with God. The end of this process is identification so close that every action and reaction, every attitude and intent are identical to God himself. Can you imagine?