February 24 - Jesus, James, John, Peter

February 24 - Jesus, James, John, Peter

The three musketeers and D'Artagnon. Well, maybe not exactly. But, these three were part of the inner circle of disciples. We see them over and over again as they witness the incredible events of Jesus' ministry.

James and John were partners in the fishing industry with Peter (Luke 5:10). It stands to reason that they knew and trusted each other. It's also pretty awesome that these close friends were together in ministry. And since they already had a strong bond, when they became disciples of Jesus Christ, rather than try to sever that bond, He made it stronger.

In Mark 5:35-37, we find that Jesus wouldn't let anyone else but these three follow him to Jairus' house, and we also find that these three were with him at the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1, Mark 9:2)

These three young men were each rebuked in various ways as they tried to comprehend the message that Jesus brought to the world. When the Samaritans refused to receive Jesus in Luke 9:51-56, James and John wanted to call down fire from heaven to consume them. Jesus rebuked them. Then they (or their mother, depending on the gospel) asked Jesus to grant them the authority to sit on his left and his right hand in heaven. HAH. He taught a lesson on that to the entire group of disciples.

Peter had his own run-ins with Christ. He had the audacity to try to shut Jesus down when Jesus was speaking of His death (Mark 8:31-33). That didn't go so well for him. Peter cut of Malchus' ear in the Garden of Gethsemane and Jesus had to fix that as well. But, notice that there were three men asked to stay close to Jesus during the period of time that he spent in the Garden. Mark 14:32-34 tells us that he asked them to go with him and then he showed them a little bit of his pain when he says, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death."

Can you imagine hearing that from a friend? Those are words that rip right to the core of your soul. And yet, they couldn't stay awake to do what he asked of them.

At some point, not long after Jesus was crucified, James was taken by King Herod and beheaded (Acts 12:2). John and Peter stayed together after the resurrection and we see them working in tandem in the early chapters of the book of Acts. Peter went on to Rome to work with the church and John became the Bishop of Ephesus.

Three great men who started out as friends and because of their relationship with Jesus Christ, not only was their friendship strengthened but they were all transformed into men whom Christ could use to begin the task of telling the world the Good News!