Matthew 5:13-16
13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
We are in week three of our sermon series from Matthew 5, 6, and 7, a section of scripture commonly referred to as the Sermon on the Mount. The Sermon on the Mount is the longest, continuous teaching of Jesus found anywhere in the Bible, and it has been absolutely essential for our understanding of who Jesus is and how we are called to live as his followers. And today we will make it all the way…to verse 16. I warned you that we were going to go slow. And next week, we will even go backwards a bit.
Just a little recap from the last two weeks. So far we have covered verses 1-12, a passage commonly referred to as “the Beatitudes.” The Beatitudes are counterintuitive. It is the poor in spirit, the meek, and the persecuted who are blessed. Not “will be” blessed, but already are blessed. This isn’t about waiting until some time in the future when God sets things right. Jesus isn’t saying that we just need to endure this junk now and then in the future God will bless us. No, when you are poor in spirit, when you are humbled or humiliated, when you are persecuted, God is on your side.
So Jesus is not addressing the elite of the society. He is talking to the average person, people who have been knocked around, and at times, kicked to the curb. And he continues to address them in the present tense when he says, “You are the salt of the earth,” and “You are the light of the world.”
Not, “You will be…,” but “You are.” These people who have never been picked first for the team, never won a popularity contest, never been voted homecoming king or queen. These people are the salt of the earth and the light of the world, and they are salt of the earth and light of the world now.
Now here’s the thing about being salt of the earth and light of the world. We really don’t know what that means. Think about it like this. In Matthew 13 Jesus tells his listeners a story we sometimes call the Parable of the Sower. Jesus tells this story about a farmer who goes out and scatters his seed on different kinds of soil: rocky soil, thorny, soil, compacted soil, and good soil. Some of it grew, others of it didn’t. End of story.
But then the people asked Jesus about his parables. They are like, “Great story. What does it mean?” So what does Jesus do? He explains the Parable of the Sower. This represents that. That is a metaphor for this.
Do you know what Jesus doesn’t do with today’s passage? He doesn’t explain it. You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. But you’re going to have to figure that one out on your own.
I’m not going to pretend to have the definitive answer to what Jesus meant. What I can do is walk through some interpretations of this passage and offer my two cents. And I recently came across a new interpretation (new to me, anyway), which I will look at shortly.
Have you ever heard someone’s language or disposition described as salty? Maybe someone speaks a little crudely, or they drop a lot of four-letter words (like love?). This wasn’t what Jesus was talking about. When someone is said to use “salty language,” this is a reference to life on the ocean. Someone who cusses like a sailor might be charged with using salty language. This is the kind of language used by sailors on the great salt oceans. Again, I don’t think this is what Jesus had in mind.
When someone says, “They are real salt of the earth people,” what do they mean. Usually it is a reference to hard-working, reliable people. They may not be rich or famous, but they are dependable. These are people who are valuable in any society. One reason people believe Jesus called the people the salt of the earth is because he was saying that they matter. They are valuable.
In the 1st century, it was common for a Roman soldier to receive a portion of their payment for their service in salt. I imagine the job interview, when they get to the point where they are talking about compensation for serving. “You get two weeks off, paid vacation. We offer health care, a 401k, oh, and salt.” Yep, you get salt.
The Latin word for salt is “sal,” and it is the route of our English word “salary.” So if a soldier wasn’t particularly good at his job, if he was falling asleep on the job or daydreaming when he was supposed to be guarding something, you might say that he wasn’t worth his salt.
Historians debate just how much salt was actually used as payment to soldiers, but what is clear and undebatable is that salt has been very valuable throughout history. We need some salt in our diets. Granted, most Americans get too much salt, but it is necessary. We also like salt as a flavor. I’m not a salt guy. I’d take sugar over salt any day. I really don’t add salt to my food; I’m more of a hot sauce kind of guy. But when those home-grown tomatoes get ripe, I’m right there with you, salting those red slices of deliciousness.
Salt was and is valuable as a seasoning. Salt has a unique taste to it. You may be trying a new dish and someone takes a bite and says something like, “Mmmm, what is that? Cardamom? Do I taste some oregano?” But nobody ever says, “Is that salt I taste?” No, we know from a young age what salt is.
One way of interpreting Jesus’s statement on being salt of the earth is to say that his followers are to be that unique taste that you recognize every time you take a bite. Imagine a world where every time someone forgave someone else people would be like, “Ope, must be a Christian!” Or when the poor are fed and clothed, when the outcasts are loved, and the widows and orphans are cared for, imagine people walking around with their detective hats on, saying, “It looks like someone has been taking Jesus’s teachings seriously around here.” There is something to this idea that Jesus might be telling his followers to bring a distinct flavor to the world around them. A flavor that is instantly recognized, just as salt is, but recognized as an attribute of Jesus himself.
But salt is more than just a way to add flavor. Salt is a preservative. Those of us living today have probably enjoyed the convenience of freezers and refrigerators our entire lives. Freezers and refrigerators keep our food fresher longer by slowing the growth of microorganisms, that tend to thrive in warmer temperatures. But before refrigeration technology came along, and before people had ice boxes, salt was used to preserve things like meat and vegetables.
How many people like Virginia country ham? I remember seeing country ham hanging at a grocery store for the first time. It was just in a bag on an end display. No refrigeration at all. If you have had country ham, you know very well that one flavor dominates your palate: salt. You don’t need to refrigerate country ham because it has been cured with salt.
The salt draws the moisture out of the cells of the microorganisms that cause meat to spoil, effectively killing the microorganisms. Salt can also be used to affect the pH and salinity of food, like when you make sauerkraut or pickles.
You can see why salt was very valuable in the first century. Not only was it tasty, if you didn’t want to eat an entire lamb in a day or so, salt helped you preserve the food for later. Keep the idea of salt as a preservative in the back of your mind, and we will come back to it shortly. First, we need to look at the light.
You are the light of the world. Most people know the benefit of light. Without light, we cannot see. One of the darkest places I’ve ever been was in Grand Caverns when they turn off the lights. You are a mile underground, they hit the switch, and you cannot see your own hand in front of your face.
We don’t experience absolute darkness in the city. Even a few miles out of town, the sky gets a lot darker, but the lights of the town affect the darkness of the sky at night. My wife remembers the sky over Nebraska growing up where the nearest neighbor might be miles away. There, miles and miles away from a city, the stars would pop out of the dark sky. Stars that can’t be seen in our community because of the lights around us were visible with the naked eye in Nebraska.
Jesus tells the people that a city on a hill cannot be hidden. Even though the light of a city in the first century would have only come from candles and torches, it was visible against the darkness of the night sky for miles and miles. Imagine being a traveler, coming from a distant land. You are tired, you are hungry, you are thirsty. You don’t know how much further you can go. But then you see it. At first it is just a little dot on the horizon. As you approach that dot, it grows bigger, and the light gets stronger. That city on the hill is drawing you in. It is your guiding light (which was both a soap opera and a Mumford and Sons song).
This is where the “new to me” interpretation comes in. It would seem as if Jesus is giving an assignment to the people, a new role. You are the salt of the earth, the light of the world. You are both the preserver and the guide.
Jesus was doing something new. He was just starting his earthly ministry at this point, and he came proclaiming the kingdom of God. He came questioning those in authority. He overthrew the money changers’ tables. Jesus in many ways changed the established religion of the people.
But if you read the very next couple of lines in Matthew 5:17-19, you find things like, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”
So Jesus is starting a new thing, but he isn’t doing away with the old. And anyone who sets aside any of these laws is called least in the kingdom of heaven. Granted, they are still in the kingdom of heaven, which isn’t bad. But they are in last place. Which reminds me of a joke my sister-in-law used to like to tell while she was in medical school. Do you know what they call the person who graduates in last place in medical school? Doctor.
Anyway, no jot or tittle shall pass away from the law. But we keep going on in chapter five, and we find what are called the antitheses of Jesus. These six antitheses start off with “You have heard that it was said…, but I say unto you…”
It sounds like Jesus is leading us to something new. It sounds like he is changing the law! Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, that’s in the Torah! Just as Jesus says the law shall not change, he goes and changes it!
Or does he? My argument is that Jesus does exactly what he claims to do: he brings the law to fulfillment. This was the goal of the law all along, and Jesus is fulfilling the goal. And we will get into that in the weeks to come.
But for now, Jesus is telling his listeners that they are the preserver and the guide. They are given the power and the responsibility to preserve the Torah. Not necessarily to follow every commandment to the letter. But to preserve the teaching and the intent of the law. Not only that, the people are to be the guide into the future. The people are to be the ones who bring the new message to the world.
I think Jesus may even tell a couple of jokes in this passage. He talks about salt losing its saltiness, and hiding a candle under a basket.
We will sometimes go to Costco and purchase a big tub of something because it is cheaper that way. A five-gallon bucket of mustard for only $12! That’s a bargain! The problem is that these foods do eventually go bad. Now how many of you have ever bought salt in bulk? Yeah, it is good for a month or two, maybe a year, then you have to throw it out because it loses its saltiness.
No, table salt, good old sodium chloride, is a very stable compound. It does not lose its saltiness.
Now imagine a wicker basket from Jesus’s day. It would be made of dried reeds and twigs and such. And it would have a relatively open weave. The only source of light Jesus would have had would have been a flame, like a candle. If you put a candle under a sealed container, like a jar, it will burn out. But if you put it under an opened-weaved basket, it is going to burn that sucker down.
I think there is some cheeky humor going on here. Jesus is telling the people that they are called to be the preserver of the old, old story. But there is also a reassuring reminder that this is an ongoing story, which will endure. But there is also this idea that Jesus is beginning something new. Jesus, the true light of the world, the light reflected by all of his followers, cannot be snuffed out or hidden. Try to cover it with a basket, and it will only burn brighter.
Hide it under a bushel? No! I’m going to let it shine.
Jesus gives great responsibility to these down-and-out followers of his. To the poor in spirit, the meek, the persecuted, Jesus says, “You are the preservers of the story, and the guides to our shared future.”
Blessings, as you continue to be salt and light.
Staunton Mennonite Weblog 