John 6:37 – All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.
I don’t believe Jesus showed favoritism to anyone. I see that as close as someone wanted to draw to Jesus, that was their decision and Jesus would allow it. Just as today, some choose to draw very near to Jesus while others wish to watch from a distance. This doesn’t mean that Jesus is showing favoritism to some and not others. It was John that gave himself the title of ‘the disciple that Jesus loved’, not Christ himself.
These three (Peter, James and John) desired to be closer to Jesus and so they did just that, which Jesus was aware of and allowed.
