Advent Day 13 :: Our Faithful Friend
A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. (Proverbs 18:24)
As we make our way through the Scriptures in search of the One who is to come and take away the sins of the world we have seen Christ in many places and typified by different people. In 1 and 2 Samuel we see Christ as the Prophet of the Lord which we discussed earlier on in our Advent series, but there is another way we see Christ through these two books.
We are introduced to some incredible people in 1 and 2 Samuel including none other than King David. We all know him and have probably studied him to some extent in our Christian walk. There is someone else though that more often than not we look over or glance around as we read about the shepherd boy made king.
In the story of David we see his ups and downs with Saul but rarely do we stop and look at David and his friendship with Jonathan - Saul’s son. We see in 1 Samuel 18 that no sooner that Jonathan meets David, Jonathan loved David as his own soul (1 Samuel 18:1). That is saying a lot and there are several ways we see Jesus through the friend that Jonathan was to David.
From the very beginning we see that Jonthan lays down his rights for David. In 1 Samuel 18 we see that Jonathan gives David robe, armor, belt and bow. This means more than you would think, especially for the son of a King. Jonathan was practically giving David his birthright to the throne. Jesus, the lover of our souls has done a similar act for us. Jesus made a covenant with us - “Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, 'Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” (Matthew 26:27-28). In order to make this covenant, Jesus had to lay aside his position at the right hand of God so that we could be elevated to the position where we also could join as heirs of the Father (2 Corinthians 8:9, Galatians 4:6-7).
Jonathan didn’t just lay down his rights for David, he also laid down his life. In 1 Samuel 20:30-33 we see the anger that King Saul had towards David and Jonathan didn’t just sit back. Jonathan stepped up and spoke up for David, and action that put him in harms way. Jesus himself said “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” Like Jonathan who bore the hatred of Saul, Jesus bore the hatred of mankind so that the very people who hated Him could go free. We see this in more detail in Isaiah 53:3-5.
We also see that David had Jonathan as an intercessor (1 Samuel 19:1-6). Because of Jonathan speaking on behalf of David, David was able to curtail a death warrant put out by King Saul. We have an intercessor as well through Jesus Christ (Hebrews 7:25-25, Romans 8:33-34). It is Jesus as our intercessor that we can be thankful that our High Priest is also our friend and having come in human form and taken on human nature, fully understands the temptations and trials we go through (Hebrews 4:16-17).
Finally, we see a friend that encourages. Through all of David’s ups and downs and everything he went through with King Saul, Jonathan was always there to give encouragement even going as far as meeting David where he was to uplift him. Don’t we have the same in Christ? Before leaving this earth, Christ gave us the Spirit as a comforter, One who is always with us and abides in us (John 14:26). We also have the Scriptures as encouragement and a source of hope (Romans 15:4-5).
We are left with an example as to how to be a friend to others. In 2 Corinthians 1:3-7, Paul tells us that we receive comfort from our compassionate Father. It’s not just to bottle up and keep to ourselves but to share with others and comfort others during their times of suffering and trouble.
In this holiday season, how can we be a friend to those who may be facing hardship and trouble? Thankfully we have some great examples to look to that can guide our way.
Further Reading: John 15:1-17
Photo by Amir Hosseini on Unsplash
