Why was there an inner circle among the 12 Apostles?

In the context of contemporary values among human minds today, Jesus Christ was playing favorites because among the 12, whom he called, he only confided his innermost secrets and plans to three, namely Simon whom he called Peter, and upon whom he entrusted the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven; John the Beloved, on whom he entrusted his own mother, Mary, and James, the brother of John and son of Zebedee, fisherman from Bethsaida and Capernaum in Galilee, just like Jonah, father of Simon and Andrew.

The Lord Jesus had 12 disciples, also called apostles. A disciple is a student or a learner who was taught by the master. An apostle was one who was sent to preach and spread the truth to others. All apostles started as disciples but not all disciples become apostles. The 12 apostles all started as disciples. They were Andrew, Simon Peter, James the Greater, John the Beloved, Bartholomew or Nathanael, James the Lesser, son of Alphaeus, Judas Iscariot, Jude or Thaddeus also son of Alphaeus, Matthew or Levi the tax collector, Philip, Simon the Zealot or activist, filibuster and enemy of the ruling class, insurgent, if you will, and Thomas or Didymus, the famous doubting Thomas who refused to believe until he saw.

Andrew, the first to be called and former disciple of John the Baptist and cousin of Jesus was ahead of Simon, who became the leader of the 12 despite having disowned Jesus thrice before the Pharisees. But Andrew's character was a silent man from behind. He is laid back and would rather keep silent while Peter was always the one asking questions and making suggestions. James, the Greater and elder brother of John; then John. They were both ambitious egged on by their parents, especially their mother. Both John and James were jockeying for power and asking Jesus to reserve two special seats in heaven with them, one brother at the right and the other at the left. That incident angered the other apostles, and Jesus rebuked them for such audacity.

The inner circle composed of Simon Peter, John, and James were the only ones brought by Jesus when he made the deceased daughter of Jairus, the Roman soldier, rise from the dead. They were also privileged to witness the Transfiguration of Jesus in Mount Tabor. Most of all, the three were with Jesus when he cried tears of blood in Gethsemane, albeit they were reprimanded for falling asleep, instead of watching over him. The three were not the purest or the most perfect of men. They were sinners too, but they were seen as the most worthy to become pillars of his Church. Of the three only John persevered to stay with Jesus until he died on the cross in Golgotha.

In all human organizations, there is always a core group, an executive committee, a top level council of advisers. Jesus Christ did exercise his leadership powers and management prerogatives. Out of 12, only one betrayed him; that was 91.67% success. Then apostle number 13 was Judas Iscariot's replacement, Matthias.