Jonathan is guilty of the charge leveled by his father
against him, he has preferred David to himself.
Jonathan is a perfect example of the commandment of Jesus to love our
neighbor as ourselves. It will, as Saul
suggests, cost Jonathan much to love his neighbor as himself, it will mean his
own kingdom will never be established in favor of David's kingdom. Can two people talk past one another more or
understand one another less than these two worldviews? The covenant between David and Jonathan
explains it all, "The Lord shall be between me and you, and between my
offspring and your offspring, forever.”
They are as one flesh because of this covenant. When one benefits, so does the other, when
one suffers so does the other. In modern
commentaries the suggestion is made that these two were homosexual because the
world today does not understand love between two people that does not involve
sex. To our shame, they have not seen
such love between Christians.
Is there anything wrong with the Pharisees having a serious
attitude towards Sabbath keeping? It is
the most detailed commandment to keep the Sabbath holy and do no work. No one is to work, all, even foreigners are
to keep the Sabbath. It relates to the
original creation, needs no revelation since the beginning to understand. A commandment that is binding on all is an
especially serious matter to the Jews.
They have worked out elaborate and biblical restrictions for work on the
Sabbath to ensure that they keep the Law.
When Jesus' disciples pluck the heads of grain and rub them between
their hands to separate wheat and chaff they are working. When He heals on Sabbath that too is
considered work. If they condone it,
they too are guilty of breaking the commandment. That being said, our bodies were created by
God and they need fuel and He knew it from the start, and getting food requires
effort. Likewise, people are always more
important than commandments when suffering can be alleviated. Jesus shows that creation in the image of God
is as serious a matter as Sabbath, it
preceded it, thus the Sabbath was made for man.
There were multiple teachers in Antioch at this time and
they were praying together when the Spirit spoke to them about Paul and
Barnabas. It is good for leaders to
gather and pray together, an important part of leadership. Do we spend enough time seeking the Lord's
voice on things or do we tend to collaborate in thinking? The other good thing here is that two men, a
team, were sent out. Having done church
planting alone I believe it is typically a mistake to have one person carrying
the load. A husband and wife don't
qualify as a team because they are one flesh and therefore tend to share the
same blind spots. They get an
opportunity to share the Gospel with an important official and Paul is able to
see the problem clearly, the magician, and speaks directly into the problem
which results in a sign that leads this leader to faith. Just like with Jonathan and David, and Jesus
with His disciples, team ministry is always best.
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