1 Samuel 18:1-5, As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. 2 And Saul took him that day and would not let him return to his father’s house. 3 Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul. 4 And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, and his armor, and even his sword and his bow and his belt. 5 And David went out and was successful wherever Saul sent him, so that Saul set him over the men of war. And this was good in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul’s servants.
Trading Places. This story of Jonathan and David is such a powerful picture of our Covenant of Love with Jesus. Biblically, covenant is always between the greater and the lesser, with the greater being the one who initiates the covenant. Here we see that during Saul’s conversation with David, Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and he loved him as himself. This Prince, out of love, initiates a covenant with a shepherd boy. Again, it says he did this in verse 3, because he loved him as himself. In verse 4 we are told that Jonathan stripped himself of his princely garments and placed them on David. In a sense, they traded places. Jonathan became poor in the sight of David so that David might be clothed in all that Jonathan had, and was. This is what Christ did for us. He became like us by stripping Himself and taking on the rags of our brokenness and sin, that we might clothed in Him, and all of the riches of His life, and ability. The Greater traded places with the lesser, that the lesser might become rich in Him. We have been clothed in all that He is, so that we might live as He lives. None of this has anything to do with any qualities in us, but we are simply qualified because He chose to love us as Himself.