Salt And Light Series

Salt, Light, and Law in the Sermon on the Mount

Matthew 5:13-16, NIV

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.

15Neither 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.

16In the same way, let your Light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

Commentary

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.

When Jesus says, "You are the salt of the earth/light of the world (Mt. 5:13-14), remember that his direct audience is the disciples. The "you" refers to those people who actually live out the things he is saying. But he immediately puts these folks in context: they are living out his principles in the world. And they have an effect on it. Jesus expresses this effect with nice Hebrew parallelism:

"You are the salt of the earth . . . You are the light of the world."

Salt of the Earth

It seems common, at least in the U.S. to think that we should pass laws to legislate morality. But I do not believe that is what Jesus is talking about here. It should be our day to day interactions with the people around us that positively influences them. Our lives should counter the corrupting influences of our secular and ungodly society.

Salt can be a seasoning, but it can also be a preservative. The idea that believers are a preserving presence in the world is an excellent theological note. It does have scriptural support (Gen. 18:20-32; Acts 27:21-25). However, it does not fit the parallelism. The most important purpose of salt in the ancient world was to act as a preservative. Without a refrigerator, meat would quickly spoil. But salt could draw out the moisture and allow the meat to last much longer.

We are to act as a preservative, preventing the world from going bad. We should have a positive influence on those around us. Furthermore, that is most likely what Jesus had in mind here.

The Sermon on the Mount starts with the Beatitudes, and then Jesus has something to say about the role of his followers. He calls us the salt of the earth as well as the light of the world. Rather than withdraw from the world, we are to be engaged with it, making a difference through our presence.

Light of the World

"You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 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. In the same way, let your Light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. ----Matthew 5:14-16 NIV

Light and darkness are used frequently to refer to spiritual conditions. John says Christ is the world's Light (John 1:4-9). As his followers, that same light should shine out from him, through us, into a world that is still dark. Moreover, his light shone into the spiritual darkness of this world.

That light is within us. However, what will we do with it? Jesus warns us not to hide the light. However, to put it on display for all the world to see. The world will resist that light, making it tempting to hide it and avoid conflict. We must resist that temptation and boldly let his Light shine through us for the world to see.

The noticeable feature of light is that you notice it. It makes a distinct difference. Salt as flavoring has that immediate impact in a way that salt as a preservative does not. If you add salt to something you eat, you notice the difference immediately, just like if you turn the lights on in a room. (Also, the verb Jesus uses in 5:13 could very well be translated as "become bland.”)

So Jesus is saying that people who live out the kingdom life are distinctly different. It is noticeable–in a good way. Dropping the metaphor entirely, the result is, "That [the world] may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven" (Mt. 5:16).

Jesus is saying that people who live out the kingdom life are distinctly different.