A timely question since we are going through the Gospel of John at Splat and Doxa. As you know, John often referred to himself as the "disciple whom Jesus loved" (John 13:23; 19:26; 20:2; 21:20). This does not mean Jesus did not love the other disciples (Note: the complete list of disciples is found in Matthew 10:2-4), The term implies tender closeness between John and Jesus, but not favouritism.
Favouritism means that you like someone better because of what they can do for you. The Bible tell us God "shows no partiality" (Romans 2:11). James 2:1-4 says this concerning favouritism:
My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
Jesus did not show favouritism. He didn't need his disciples to do anything for him. He valued every one of them equally. It is true that Jesus appears to spend more time with 3 disciples in particular (i.e. Peter, John and James) than the other disciples. The reason for this is not clear. Perhaps he wanted to mentor these three closely to prepare them for the future. Perhaps he just enjoyed their company more. We do not really know. Yet one thing is for sure: Jesus did not do it out of favouritism.
[Answered by Pastor HM, who is glad Jesus doesn't play favourites!]
