BiblicalInsights.net

The friendship of David and Jonathan is one of the purest in the entire Bible.  Friendship is a relationship of mutual affection.  Friendship is a stronger form of interpersonal bond than either acquaintance or co-worker.  Jeremy Taylor defines friendship in the following manner, “By friendship you mean the greatest love, the greatest usefulness, the most open communication, the noblest sufferings, the severest truth, the heartiest counsel, and the greatest union of minds of which brave men and women are capable.”
The Relationship Between David and Jonathan
In I Samuel 13:3; and 14:1-14, there is a depiction of the heroism of Jonathan and his armor bearer.  Together, they destroyed a Philistine garrison of twenty men.  Before Jonathan approaches the Philistines, he establishes a sign that would indicate that God would deliver the enemy into their hands.  When the sign was confirmed, Jonathan and his armor bearer fought and won the battle.  David demonstrates his fearless fighting ability by fighting the giant Goliath and killing him (I Samuel 17).  David and Jonathan were both fearless warriors.  Both men loved each other as friends.  Both men respected each other and trusted each other.  Both men had a strong faith in God.  This spiritual bond played a significant role in their relationship.
The Covenant of Mercy
In I Samuel 20:8 and 14-17, David and Jonathan express a covenant of mercy between them.  David sought the preservation of his life from Saul, Jonathan’s father.  Jonathan sought David’s goodwill toward himself and his descendants.  Jonathan remained loyal to David even as David rose in prominence.  Jonathan should rightly have become king.  But Jonathan accepts God’s choice of David to be the next king in Israel.  Consequently, he does not envy David nor become a rival to him as Saul had done.  Jonathan seeks to preserve David’s life and so preserve David’s place in Israel’s history.  Giving place to David is an act of lovingkindness or hesed on Jonathan’s part.  David and Jonathan have internalized God’s mercy in their own lives.  Both had been the recipients of God’s mercy and now they have internalized it in their own relationship with each other.  Hesed has been defined as, “when the person from whom I have no right to expect anything, gives me everything” (Michael Card).  Hesed is grace, mercy, lovingkindness.  When this principle functions in a relationship and is motivated by love, it unleashes a powerful bond that will last a lifetime and beyond.  This is the key to lifetime friendship.
The Covenant of Mercy and Reciprocity
Once a covenant of mercy is established between two people on the basis of love, there is mutuality.  The one who is initially shown hesed naturally demonstrates hesed in return.  This is not a legal expectation.  It is based upon love which acts freely.  Reciprocity is an indication that both parties in a friendship have internalized the truth of hesed.  Hesed is relational.  Its power in a relationship is increased when it is reciprocated.  It becomes the principle upon which the friendship functions.  If hesed is not returned by you in gratitude, you have not understood the nature of hesed shown to you in the first place.  The failure to reciprocate hesed disappoints the person who has shown hesed.  When mutual reciprocity of hesed is active in a relationship, the relationship endures all the ups and downs and good times and bad times presented by external circumstances.  Even after Jonathan died in battle at the same time as his father, Saul, David continued to show mercy to his descendants.  This demonstrates the power of the covenant of mercy between David and Jonathan (see Michael Card, Inexpressible: Hesed and the Mystery of God’s Lovingkindness).
Hesed and You
When hesed is experienced in our relationship with God, we taste of the heavenly gifts of mercy and grace (Heb. 6:4).  We have no right to expect anything from God, but He gives us everything!  Motivated by love, God gives us every spiritual blessing through His Son, Jesus Christ (Eph. 1:3).  We become heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ (Rom. 8:16-17). We receive the forgiveness of our sins when we obey the gospel (Acts 2:38, Rom. 6:4 and 17).  We become the children of God (Gal. 3:26-27).  Truly, God is rich in grace and mercy toward us (Eph. 1:7, 2:4). When we internalize God’s mercy and imitate Him in manifesting hesed, we display the divine nature in our relationships with others.  We unleash the power of love and mercy in all of our relationships and we have the potential to form bonds that will last a lifetime and beyond!

“Dying in Sin” is an expression of horror that is greater than all other horrors–a horror of horrors!  To die impenitent and unforgiven is the supreme spiritual disaster.
Dying in sin is a phrase first encountered in the Old Testament.  It is found in Ezekiel 3:18, “When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.”  And, in Ezekiel 18:18, “As for his father, because he cruelly oppressed, spoiled his brother by violence, and did that which is not good among his people, lo, even he shall die in his iniquity.”  Both passages express a finality regarding one’s spiritual condition at death.
Jesus Used The Phrase, “Die in Your Sins.”
In John 8:21-24, Jesus used the phrase under consideration.  “Then said Jesus again unto them, “I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in hour sins: whither I go, ye cannot come.  Then said the Jews, Will he kill himself? because he saith, Whither I go, ye cannot come.  And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world.  I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.”
Who Said It?
Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees and the Jews.  Jesus intimately knows the hearts of men.  John affirms this in John 2:25, “And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.”  Indeed, Jesus searches the hearts of men and knows what characterizes the human heart.
To Whom Did He Say It?
While Jesus was in the temple area, specifically the area where the treasury was located, he had a conversation with the Pharisees (v. 13, 19, 20).  While He addresses them, He also broadens His speech to include the Jews (v. 22-24).  This would include the religious leaders among the Jews and those that they were able to persuade.  This group is commonly presented as the enemies of Jesus.  Their unbelief and disobedience was known by Jesus and His disciples.
What Did He Say?
Jesus said plainly, “Ye shall seek me and ye shall die in your sins” (v. 21).  In v. 21, Jesus states emphatically that they were in spiritual peril.  Jesus indicted them, “ye are of this world.”  He did not mean that they were humans living on the earth, but that they were worldly in their hearts.  They did not believe that He was the Son of God and would later charge Him with blasphemy because He claimed to be the Son of God.  They did not obey His teaching.  Their unbelief and disobedience were at the root of Jesus’ statement, “ye shall die in your sins.”  Dying is a reference to the end of their physical lives upon the earth.  Death is defined biblically as the moment when the spirit leaves the body (James 2:26). There is a finality to death regarding our ability to affect our spiritual status before God.  Once death occurs, there are no second chances to change our spiritual status. Dying in sin involves a state of unbelief and disobedience or a state of rebellion against God.  They were both impenitent and unforgiven.  Consequently, they would die without hope (I Thess. 4:13-18).  Their spiritual end is described in II Thess. 1:7-9, “And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels. In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power.”   Such an end to human life is a horror of horrors!
Why Did He Say It?
Many among the Pharisees rejected Jesus as the Son of God and the Messiah.  Many of the Pharisees were able to persuade others of this same erroneous view (John 12:42).  Their unbelief and disobedience led to their spiritual ruin.  Jesus knew their hearts.  He knew how they had hardened their hearts against Him.  He warns them of the impending peril of their souls. Later, many of these same religious leaders led the charge of blasphemy against Jesus and demanded that He be put to death (Matthew 26:57-68).  Their hardness of heart led to a hatred that is unmatched in human history.  Only the love of God can pierce a human heart so full of hatred and so hardened by unbelief.  The reality of sin and how it affects the human heart is laid bare by the Lord.  Some human hearts are not able to be penetrated by the most powerful force on the earth–God’s love!  Indeed, there is a  solemn warning to all of us in these words: “Ye shall die in your sins!”  “Except ye believe that I am he, ye shall die in your sins” (John 8:24).