In John 21:20 , John..... John 21 :15 ..Peter .... John 20:27 ... Thomas
I don't know about them being referred to as "the circle", but the three disciples of the twelve that Jesus took with him to certain places, like the Mountain of Transfiguration, Garden of Gethsemane, etc. were Simon Peter, James, and John. (Matthew 17)
Off hand, I would say that of the twelve disciples, John and Peter were His two closest friends. John, in his gospel called himself "the disciple whom Jesus loved". Peter was the one who after he had denied Jesus three times, was asked by Jesus: "Peter do you love me?" three times.
Peter, James, and John were the three disciples who went with Jesus to the mountain where he was transfigured.
Here Judas betrayed Jesus and peter denied Jesus three times.
The disciples were Peter, James and John. (Mark 14:33)
Peter denied Jesus three times, Judas betrayed Jesus, and they all ran away.
In the three Gospels which record this event no number is mentioned. It could reasonably be assumed, that since no-one is recorded as being absent that all twelve were present. See:Matthew 8:23-27: Mark 4:35-41 and Luke 8:22-25
1.He guided them. 2.He taught them. 3.He loved them.
Jesus took Peter, James, and John with him when he went to heal Jairus' daughter. These three disciples often accompanied Jesus on important occasions, such as the Transfiguration and Gethsemane.
Mark's Gospel, the first gospel to be written, divided the last twenty four hours in the life of Jesus into eight periods of three hours each. Mark has Jesus go to the Garden of Gethsemane at 9 pm, where his closest disciples, Peter, James and John, were not able to remain awake. "Could you not watch one hour?" Jesus asked. The process was repeated two more times and each time the disciples fell asleep. It was now midnight, and Jesus had prayed three times.
The word 'disciple' or 'disciples' appears in the Bible 294 times.
about three, give or take. Jesus began his ministry at age thirty and was crucified when thirty-three.