Salt and Light

In this second article on the parables of Jesus we will examine His instructions from Matthew 5:14-15 regarding salt and light. This is very early in the ministry of the Lord and not long after calling His first disciples. In order to understand the Lord’s metaphors of salt and light, it is essential to grasp His description of a disciple from verses 1-12.

Context

Verse one tells us that when Jesus saw the crowds He went up on a mountainside and sat down. Luke tells us He has already spent a lot of time healing the sick. His disciples came to Him and He began to teach them these well-known verses which characterize what it means to be a disciple. We must always keep in mind that Jesus was speaking both of His disciples in their immediate context as Jews under the Law, the old covenant, but also into the future. Many people chose a rabbi to follow, such as John the Baptists disciples or like the Qumran community who separated themselves from the world. But Jesus was also preparing them for the future, for He was no ordinary rabbi, rather He was preparing these men to build His Church. 

(v3)‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God’. In Luke’s gospel, the words ‘in spirit’ are absent, therefore, some conclude that Jesus is speaking of material wealth and that material poverty is a blessing. There is no doubt that wealth can be a hindrance for many, but this interpretation is not consistent with these 12 verses. The blessings are related to character and attitude. 

‘Poor in spirit’ means to recognize our spiritual poverty, that we are reliant not on ourselves, but on the grace of God. As sinners, we are spiritually poor, and recognizing this, we are those who can humbly receive God’s grace and His kingdom.

(4)‘Blessed are those who mourn’. We often associate mourning with death, but this is not the meaning here, rather, it refers to those who grieve over their sinful condition. This is seen in Jesus’ parable of the two men who went to the temple to pray in Luke 18:9-14. The tax collector beat his chest and asked forgiveness.

(5) ‘Blessed are the meek’. To be meek is not weakness, rather, it refers to a humble and gentle spirit which is submitted to God, a form of inner strength devoid of arrogance.

(6) ‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled’.  The word translated hunger here means to earnestly desire, yearn or even crave. The heart of a true disciple is to yearn to be righteous as God is righteous. In Romans 2:6-8 states that God will give to each according to what he has done and then contrasts two kinds of people. It reads:

To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. (Romans 2:7-8)

Those who hunger for righteousness, seek glory, honor and immortality, those things which can only be found in Christ. They yearn to be filled with His righteousness, to live in the truth and God promises that they will be filled.

(7) ‘Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy’. To show mercy is to reflect through action, the merciful heart of God. To show mercy is to feel another’s pain and give agape love. In Matthew 25:31-46 Jesus spoke of the sheep and goats, another contrast of a true disciple and religious hypocrite. The sheep demonstrated agape love, feeding the hungry, caring for the stranger, clothing the naked, helping the sick and visiting the prisoners, whilst the goats were devoid of mercy and compassion. The true disciple acts as God acts. The disciple understands that he has received mercy, has been shown mercy by the Lord and acts accordingly.

(8) Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God’.  Purity of heart could be summed up in one word, namely, Christlikeness. The pure of heart act as Christ would act, selfless, forgiving, always seeking the good, shunning evil in all its forms and living to glorify their Lord. Jesus said they will see God. The word ‘opsontai’ translated as will see, has several meanings. Firstly, to experience God through intimate relationship in this life, and also, to witness Him in all His glory in the next.

(9) ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God’. Those who have found peace with God have peace within themselves. Enmity, strife, revenge, envy and hatred are the fruit of those who continue as enemies of Christ, they have no reconciliation with their Creator and only a superficial peace with their fellow man. The peacemaker is one who has experienced the peace which transcends understanding (Philippians 4:7). They understand forgiveness as they have received forgiveness and their lives are now directed by love. Such people seek to bring peace and reconciliation to the lost so that the lost may also experience the peace of God. They are rightly called ‘sons of God’ for they are His adopted children in Christ.

(10) ‘Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of God’. There are some who are so committed to unrighteousness that they are compelled to persecute those who refuse to join them. They believe that by committing evil against those who desire to live righteously, that the righteous will betray godliness and become as evil as them.  

(11) ‘Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil things against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you’. This final statement separates Jesus’ disciples from every other disciple who chose a rabbi, or chose to live in a separate community apart from the world. In this statement, the insults, persecution and slander are aimed, not only at those who desire to live righteously, but because of Christ Himself. It is a specific hatred for Christ which motivates people to hate those who are disciples of Christ, specifically, Christians, those who are partakers of the divine nature, the people of the new covenant. 2 Timothy 3:12 tells us that ‘everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted’. Those who hate Christ also hate those who love Christ and live for Him. 

We now come to the metaphors of salt and light.

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 on by men. (Matthew 5:13) 

How would Jesus’ disciples understood these words in their immediate context? Firstly, they knew that as Israelites they were God’s chosen people, chosen to receive the law and prophets and be separate to the nations around them. In this sense they were the salt of the earth. Salt had two main purposes, to be a seasoning and preservative. The Jewish nation were the seasoning of God for the world, bringing a flavor of righteousness, rejecting the seasoning of the world. Also, in a world which through idol worship had brought decay, Israel was to be a preservative, an island of purity in a world that had become rotten and putrefied by sin. 

But Israel had often lost its saltiness, had often neglected the law, turned their backs on God and followed the heathen nations around them. The Lord was forever bringing them back, trying to make them salty again through the preaching of the prophets and being conquered by other nations. The Jews used to collect salt mainly from the Dead Sea as rock salt. Sometimes the crystalline forms which had been long in the weather would lose their saltiness yet still look the same. When such was discovered, it was crushed and thrown on the streets to provide traction on slippery cobblestones. Jesus may have been alluding to this with His statement about being trampled on by men, or, that Israel was trampled on by enemies when she turned from God, or both.

But there is a warning here for Christian disciples also. We are called to be the salt of the earth, the seasoning of Christ who preserve the truth and reject what is evil. Paul wrote,

Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. (Colossians 4:6) 

The apostle has just finished telling the Church to devote themselves to prayer, to be watchful and thankful. There are those who teach that discipleship is an optional extra to salvation. Many professing Christians give an hour or two to the Lord on Sunday, but the world basically owns them the rest of the week. Such people are not true disciples of Christ for they refuse any form of spiritual discipline in their lives and relegate serving Christ to the bare minimum of what they believe, or have been taught, will get them to heaven. Rather than their conversation being full of grace and seasoned with salt, they echo what they devote themselves to, financial success, worldly ambition and whatever entertains them. I seriously doubt that such people know Christ at all.

Those who are devoted to Christ discipline themselves and their hearts as Paul wrote to the Colossians, set your minds on things above, not on earthly things (Colossians 3:2). When such people speak their conversation is full of grace because they are constantly aware of the grace they have received. And their words are not the incipit flavorless worldly drivel of hypocrites, but seasoned with the leading and power of the Holy Spirit.

And the metaphor of light.

14 You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on a stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:14-16)

 Jesus calls His disciples the light of the world, however, He is the source of that light. In John 8:12 the Lord said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life’. The light of life a disciple has is eternal life, for Christ is that eternal life. No true disciple walks in darkness, for darkness covers the spiritually blind, the spiritually dead, those who still follow the prince of darkness. 

Jesus speaks here of a city on a hill. The Church has often been referred to as the city of God, and as such the Church cannot be hidden. The role of the Church is to bring the light of salvation to the world and in this, it must be conspicuous and seen as a beacon of light in darkness. 

The Lord then speaks of a lamp within a home. He says the lamp is not hidden under a bowl, but put on a stand for everyone to see. A person may be the only Christian in a family, and if so, then they are called to shine their light for Christ to bring light to everyone in that home. Living for Christ in that situation can be the most difficult and challenging experience. These are the people who know us, who know our history, our habits and they may scrutinize our behavior to see if we have changed. When we fail they can be the first to mock and say, ‘you haven’t changed, your still the same person you were before’. 

Be the first to admit your faults, be the first to ask forgiveness. Genuine humility disarms an accuser. The Lord tells us to let our light shine before men, that they may see our good deeds and praise our heavenly Father. How can we do that in a practical way? The apostle Peter gives us encouragement, advice, and a warning in his second letter. He writes:

3 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desire. 5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 

7 and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. 10 Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, 11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

 Please note the following:

1. If we are truly in Christ then we have received His divine power and have everything we need for life and godliness (v3) for we have received His ‘great and precious promises and become partakers of the divine nature’ (v4). This is given to those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. And note that all of this comes through our knowledge of Christ. Peter does not mean to know about Christ, but, as in John 17:3, to know Him personally, as Lord and Savior. The Lord has done His part; He has given everything we need to live godly lives so that we are without excuse. We have escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desire, so how can we continue to live in it? 

2. ‘For this reason we must make every effort to add to our faith’ (v5). The reason is that we have been set free from the world and its darkness, and given power to live for Christ because we know Him. Peter then gives a list of the qualities of a disciple and tells us to have these in increasing measure so that we will not be ineffective or unproductive in our knowledge of Christ (v5-8). Here again Peter emphasizes our knowledge of Christ. The key to increasing godly qualities is in having a deeper knowledge, and therefore, a deeper love for the Lord. Many Christians make the mistake of becoming obsessed with sin hunting, of constantly evaluating their performance. This is the wrong focus entirely, for it is centered on self rather than Christ. Jesus told us to follow Him. When we stay close to Him He always, as David wrote, ‘leads us on paths of righteousness for his name’s sake’ (Psalm 23:3). 

There is not a single moment of any day that the Lord is not there with us, even if we are ignoring Him. Therefore, practice the presence of God, talk to Him and let Him lead you. In this way you will naturally and continually increase the godly qualities that Peter listed.

3. Peter also gives a warning to those who are not growing in Christ. They are nearsighted and blind and have forgotten that they were cleansed from sin. He tells such people to be certain of their calling and election (v10). In other words, yes, you may have sincerely repented of sin, but if there is no fruit of your salvation, no hunger and thirst for righteousness, no increasing knowledge or love for Christ, then you should seriously doubt that you have received the divine nature. Likewise Paul warned us to examine ourselves to be certain that we belong to Christ (2 Corinthians 13:5).

4. In verse 10 Peter tells us that if we do these things we will never fall. The idea here is not about falling away, but stumbling on the road by following the desires of our flesh nature. The point is simple. If we are holding the hand of the Lord on the path, going only where He leads, although there may be many stumbling blocks along the way, He, as the light of the world, will shine on the path and lead us not into temptation. If your desire is to never stumble and fall into sin, then never let go of His hand.

In summary.

In this second parable of Jesus He first laid out the characteristics which identify a disciple and then the metaphors of salt and light. As we will discover as we study the teaching and parables of the Lord, there are only two types of people in the world: disciples who know and love Him, and those who live for the world and remain in darkness. Jesus never taught a form of easy believism such as that claimed by free-grace adherents, He never taught a form of election and predestination which eliminates human decision as claimed by Calvinists and reformed teachers, rather, His message was simple and clear. We either choose through conviction to belong to Him with all that we are, or we still belong to the world. Those who want a ticket to heaven without discipleship have no real love for Christ, and in that, have not even begun to fulfill the greatest and most fundamental commandment, to love God with all we have and are.

In the next video we will examine Jesus’ parable where He speaks of wise and foolish builders. This parable has an incredibly important message, namely, be sure of the foundation of your theology, the foundation of your faith, for if it does not produce disciples, then those who adhere to it may hear the words, ‘depart from me, I never knew you’.  

I pray this article has been enlightening for you.  

God bless