Salt and Light: A Sermon for the 5th Sunday of Epiphany
Matthew 5:13–20 NKJV
“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.
“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
We now come to the 5th Sunday in Epiphany in which we remember that Jesus, who is THE Light of the world came into the world. The very Word of God came to earth and was made flesh and born of the Virgin Mary. The Apostle John tells us that He dwelt (tabernacled) among us. We zero in on His birth as well as His death on the cross for our sin, buried, then rose on the 3rd day on the 3rd day. He appeared to many after His resurrection then ascended to the right hand of the Father. He will return to judge the living and the dead. Through Him, we expect our own resurrection and eternal life in Him. We rehearsed these doctrines when we recited the Apostle’s Creed this morning. I cannot understate how important these doctrines are. There are numberless books and sermons which have been written and spoken concerning these central doctrines. This morning. the lectionary passages from Psalm 112, Isaiah, I Corinthians 2, and Matthew 5:13-20 focus on how we should apply the central doctrines of our faith. we will zero in this morning on the Gospel passage.
The Gospel text comes from the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew’s gospel. In it Jesus gives instruction on how the disciple of Jesus Christ should live out their faith in this world. He begins the sermon with a series of blessings. These blessings seem strange to the world. The worldly man would hardly consider these blessings at all. It is the poor in spirit who are blessed and not the rich. It is the meek and not the strong who are blessed. It is the persecuted and despised who are precious in the sight of the LORD. This should force us to rethink the values that the world presses upon us.
(I have an entire sermon series on the Sermon on the Mount published on this sermon site if you are interested in more detail.)
This morning’s text follows upon the beatitudes. It begins with the assertion “You are the Salt of the Earth.” We call people of extraordinary moral character by this epithet. Many times this is justified, even though Jesus is speaking of His disciples and not mankind in general. In fact, Jesus heavily criticizes the Pharisees who were held to be upright by many. But Jesus is addressing those who heard the Sermon on the Mount that day. These blessings and being called “the salt of the earth” did not apply to all the hearers, though. Rather it is those who build their lives upon the Rock, who hear His words and put them into practice who are the blessed.
The Greek uses the emphatic pronoun “YOU” here as well as the definite article ‘the”. This is an exclusive statement meaning that it is the true disciple of Christ and no other who is the salt of the earth. The same construction is used for the “YOU are “The Light of the World.” When we hear this, we might be puzzled. Did not Jesus in one of His exclusive “I AM” statements call Himself “The Light of the World? Would not Jesus’ exclusive statement rule out anyone else being THE light? When we think of logic, a skeptic might quote the philosophers who say that two mutually exclusive statements can be true at the same time. For example, if there is a man and a bus on the street, they cannot be in the same place at the same time. But this is a fallacy. Suppose the man is in the bus. This is an inclusive statement, and, therefore, true, so long as the relationship remains he same. The Christian disciple is “in Christ.” Sp long as this relationship exists, the two statements do not exclude each other. As the bus is greater than the man in the bus, it does not equate the man and the bus. There is more to the bus than the individual on the bus. Christ is far greater than we are. But the important thing is that we are on the bus. We are “in Christ.” Apart from Christ, the claim would be mutually exclusive. So, let us not neglect the only way on can be the light of the world or “the salt of the earth.” How we put our faith in practice is important.
Jesus goes on to call us a city on a hill. A city is a collective plural. One person does not a city make. The Christian is not alone. He or she lives in context with other Christians. Just as a hand has no use apart from the body, the lone Christian cannot live by himself. The disciple of Christ lives in community with other Christians. And this city cannot exist apart from the Light of the World which is Christ Jesus. In history, Calvin’s Geneva or Winthrop’s Boston have been called the “city on a hill.” No doubt, these men were Christians who knew that there was a far better city coming down from heaven. these cities were mere copies of the greater reality. But is shows that these Christians took seriously the charge to be the city on a hill, a true Christian community. Our churches today are still but copies of the true city of God, yet we would do well to remember the charge to let our lives individually and collectively be a witness to that true light, even as John the Baptist bore witness to that LIGHT.
When we think of being a city on a hill, we must also consider that in the ancient world, the light and opulence of the city also attracted enemy armies. Those without the city desire to rid and spoil that city. This means they are looking for any flaw in the defense that they might enter in to conquer her. A lit city is not necessarily safe. It only remains safe when everyone is on guard and the light of that city is the unconquerable God. There was a city named Sardis in the ancient world ruled by Crassus, who was the richest man in the ancient world. Sardis was built on a steep hill and was thought impregnable. So when Cyrus the Great came and lay siege to it, the well provisioned city was not worried. the city was well supplied, and Crassus could buy a relief army. However, a Persian soldier noticed a soldier whose helmet fell over the wall went out on a secret path to retrieve it. Cyrus took note and sent soldiers up this path and took the city. Just one soldier who let his guard down, and the city fell. Thankfully, our LORD is far greater than Crassus. But there is a lesson to be learned here. John when he writes to the city of Sardis in Revelations reminds them of the dangers of not being watchful with a twist. The church had already been compromised. However, it was not the army of Satan they needed to watch. Instead, it was the LORD who was coming. When we remember The LORD’s charge to Jerusalem “Prepare to meet thy God, O Israel” it was not an invitation to a picnic, but rather the LORD coming to judge His people. So let us be on guard as well.
As we continue this morning’s text, we come to another statement concerning the Law and the Prophets. The Pharisees rightly considered the Law and the Prophets to be the very words of God. They considered these words most holy and set up a hedge around it to make sure it stayed so with all their traditions. The Pharisees were very zealous about he Law, so much so that they accused Jesus and later Paul of breaking the Law of Moses (actually the LORD is the author). They would end up joining with the Sadducees to have Jesus crucified. But Jesu clearly says that He did not come to destroy the Law and the Prophets but rather to fulfill them. Not an iota, which is the smallest letter in the Greek alphabet, as is the “yod” in Aramaic, would fall until this was fulfilled.
There is a tendency in the modern “American” churches to go to the opposite extreme. Although there a churches which can be called legalistic, there is a far greater trend to go to the opposite extreme. Many say that the words Jesus spoke on that mount was addressed to the Jews of His day and not Christians today. After all, does not Paul tells us that we are not under law but under grace. But we are confronted by Jesus’s statement here that He did not come to destroy the Law and the Prophets. does not Paul respond with an emphatic “NO” to the idea that we should sin that grace might abound (Romans 6:1). We must guard against both extremes.
We who confess Christ as Savior also confess that He is LORD. We need to take everything in both the Old as well as the New Testament seriously as we remember that ALL Scripture is God breathed and profitable ( 2 Timothy 3:16). It seems hard to find the third way and avoid the extremes. But as Jesus tells us here, properly understood, Jesus is the One who perfectly fulfilled the Law and the Prophets. therefore the relationship is not that they are abolished, but rather fulfilled. It was by Jesus’ perfect fulfillment of the Scripture that we no longer are under the Law, so long as we are in Christ. The Scripture (“Old” Testament”) promised that the seed of a woman would bruise Satan’s head (Genesis 3:15). Jesus’ foot would be bruised by the nails which pierced His feet. all of the Prophecies of the coming Christ including His Virgin birth, suffering, earth, and resurrection stand fulfilled. He bore the curse of the thorns upon His brow. All stands fulfilled. We stand in Him. We died in Him. We rise in Him as well. all the penalty has been paid.
The Christian who has died to the past life it called to be a witness to the resurrection in the way one conducts one’s life. The Church is to bear witness to this truth. Not only do we confess what we noted before in the creeds. We confess with the way we conduct ourselves the truth of Christ. The light is not to be put under a bushel. Danger or not, we must shine as the light of the world, that i the light of Christ. In this, we have Jesus as an example, the one who was led by the Spirit in His work of ministry, who silenced those who tried to entrap Him. He taught us how to suffer through His sufferings how to persevere in hope, to look beyond the crosses in this life to the joy which lay beyond. We get to follow the example He set for us. So let us look at the life as well as His teaching to enlighten our path on the journey.
