2 Sam 1:26  I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother; you were very dear to me. Your love for me was wonderful, more wonderful than that of women.

 

 

This is a passage of Scripture that rejoices in the goodness of love between brothers. No, Jonathan wasn't literally David's brother but the relationship they had was just like that of brothers. There is nothing unwholesome about this relationship and there is no sexual aspect to it. This is simply the wonder of a relationship between two warriors (for that is what they were together) who fought alongside each other, stood up for each other, supported each other, understood how each other felt, and were totally there for each other. This is a form of love that, because of the sexual morass of the twenty first century in the West, is rarely spoken about because it might be misunderstood. It is the love of deepened friendship, a love that anguishes when something happens to the other.

 

Jonathan has just been killed because he sided with his father and was overcome by the enemy. Some might say he was foolish to have been there in that battle, but David simply grieves over what has happen without an ounce of criticism. Love covers a multitude of sins (1 Pet 4:8). Love keeps no record of wrongs (1 Cor 13:5). Love simply knows that once the object of your love is removed your heart anguishes. You remember the good times, you remember the good things, the good characteristics as you look back with the sadness of your present loss. Love feels and feeling is sometimes sadness.