Growing up one of the first things kids want to do when they go to school is pick out a best friend. For a 5-year-old this may be a different person each week. Their friendship lasts as long as things are going well. However, in the adult world if a person is your best friend there are very few limitations on what you will do for one another. In I Samuel 18:1, Jonathan, the king’s son, loved David as his own soul. They were beginning a relationship that would take many twists and turns but would not be forfeited.
I Samuel 18:1 “And it came to pass when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.”
This was just after David had come in from killing Goliath. When he was brought before Saul in I Samuel 18:2, Saul saw the greatness within this young man and brought him into the palace to live. Now, in verse 3, we see David and Jonathan made a covenant between them. David has shown himself as a loyal soldier and now he would be a loyal friend. Jonathan was a young man of great character. Long before David becomes king, Jonathan places his royal garments on him. He had great admiration for David and loved him as he loved himself. Isn’t this what Jesus taught us to do? In Matthew 22:37-39 Jesus said, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” Jonathan was fulfilling this commandment long before Jesus spoke it.
As a gesture of his love, admiration, and understanding of God’s purpose for David to be the next king, Jonathan took his royal garments and his weapons and gave them to David. Somehow Jonathan knew David would be the next king. He would take the place that would have been his. They made a covenant and sealed it with the giving and accepting of the royal robe. In ancient times this was symbolic of David taking on the identity of his covenant partner Jonathan. Nowhere in scripture do we find Jonathan jealous of David. He truly loved David better than himself and he consistently honored God and had respect for the will of God.
This reminds me of what Jesus did for us. He came to earth and left all the riches of Heaven behind to take on a robe of flesh so that He could identify with us, experience the temptations, and take the penalty of our sins by dying in our place. In Philippians 2:7-8, we find Jesus laying aside all his royalty to become a man, humbling himself and dying for us. The Son of God made us heirs to Heaven, and in Romans 8:17 we are made heirs of God. “And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ.”
I Samuel 18:2-5 “And Saul took him that day, and would let him go no more home to his father’s house.
Then Jonathan and David made a covenant because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle. And David went out whithersoever Saul sent him, and behaved himself wisely: and Saul set him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people, and also in the sight of Saul’s servants.”
Philippians 2:7-8 “But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”
This friendship was a forever friendship. During the course of their friendship, Jonathan would warn David of the intent his father had to kill him. He would defend David against the lies that were told about David. Jonathan would remain loyal to David until his death.
I Samuel 20:13 “The LORD do so and much more to Jonathan: but if it pleases my father to do thee evil, then I will show it thee, and send thee away, that thou mayest go in peace: and the LORD be with thee, as he hath been with my father.”
When David became king, he never forgot his love and friendship with Jonathan. Years later David is seeking to know if there are any of Jonathan’s family left. Word is brought to him that Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth was still alive and that he was crippled. David sends for him and gives him a place of prominence at his table. He provides for Mephibosheth and his family, for the rest of his life.
II Samuel 9:7 “And David said unto him, Fear not: for I will surely show thee kindness for Jonathan thy father’s sake, and will restore thee all the land of Saul thy father; and thou shalt eat bread at my table continually.”
A best friend is always looking out for what is best for you. Jesus is such a friend. He calls us friends in John 15:15. In John 15:13, He teaches us that the greatest way to show our love for a friend is to lay down our lives for them. Jonathan was a great example of this, by giving His life for David’s. However, Jesus has done that for all of us. He the righteous one, the King of Kings calls us friends and demonstrates it for us.
John 15:15 “Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knowest not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
John 15:13 “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
