JONATHAN’S LOVE

The Bible depicts some special friendships like that of Naomi with Ruth and that of Jonathan with David. Even though Saul was condemned by God for his disobedience and pride, in Jonathan, Saul’s son, we see a truly special man who went beyond what is often possible, in his love for David. In 1 Samuel 18, we read of this friendship and get more insight into what made this truly special.

‘After David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself……………And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt.’ (v1-4)

They shared a passion for God: Much like David, a man after God’s own heart, Jonathan had his priorities right and strived to honor God with his life. This brought him constantly into conflict with his father who was bent on evil. But when he met David, there was instant kinship, one that was primarily brought about by being one in the spirit, an attribute that is possible only when one’s spirit is alive in a knowledge of God. The deepest and most meaningful friendships are brought on only when there is a shared faith in Christ, because to be able to truly connect at the physical and the soul realm, one needs to connect at the deepest realm of the spirit.

The had a shared mission: Even as Saul was bent on killing David, Jonathan took the initiative to protect David with the ultimate shared mission being one of placing David on the throne of Israel. Out of a shared oneness in the spirit comes the unity of working together to accomplish God’s mission which is a hallmark of true friendship.

It was a sacrificial love: Jonathan the prince, was obviously the powerful man at that time and David was the fugitive. Yet, Jonathan risked everything to help David and his act of taking off his robe, tunic, sword, bow and belt and giving it to David signaled Jonathan’s acknowledgement of the fact that the kingdom would come to David. Without the commitment that Jonathan had to God, to give up the right to the throne would be unthinkable, yet that is what Jonathan did. Years later, we see David repaying Jonathan’s kindness by being compassionate to his son, Mephibosheth.

It was a pure love: Despite biased interpretations that twist the word of God to suit convenient viewpoints, there is nothing in the Bible to suggest that this was in any way a gay relationship. Jonathan kissing David goodbye, which is very much part of the middle Eastern culture, or David saying that Jonathan’s love was better than that of women (because some of the women in David’s life including Michal, failed to love David with a truly sacrificial love) cannot be reasonably interpreted by level-headed readers as anything unusual. This was a relationship that demonstrated the pure agape (sacrificial love and one demonstrated by God) love and becomes the model for friendship of the highest order. 

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