Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount: You are Salt and Light

Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.  You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.  Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 5:13-16).

Jesus uses these two things, salt and light, to describe his followers.  And specifically these have to do with the believers’ presence in a morally corrupt and sinful world.  Remember that the whole purpose of the sermon on the mount is to reveal how Christ’s followers should live in the world, also how they should think and what their attitude should be.     

How are Jesus’ followers like salt and light?

Let’s talk about Salt.  Salt in the Ancient Near East was a valuable commodity primarily because it was useful.  Salt had so many uses: It was a preservative, it was used as currency, it was a seasoning (of course), it was used medicinally, and it was often used as a symbol of purity in religious rites.  But let’s focus on just one of these very special properties of salt which had to do with its usefulness as a preservative.  In the ANE, people would cure meat with salt to preserve it from decay.  Unsalted meat could begin spoil in less than 24 hours, but salted meat could last for months!  One of the ways Jesus’ followers are like salt in the world is that they act as a moral preservative in the various societies in which they live.  Their love for others (empathy) and their commitment to personal integrity are a preservative in a society against moral decay and corruption.  So, let’s keep that in mind.  We are the salt of the earth.

What about light?  Light, by nature, dispels darkness.  In the presence of light, darkness flees away.  Light also reveals things that are hidden.  When it’s dark you can’t see, when you flit the lights on, “behold” you see things that, before, you could not see.  - We are like light as we do good works and share God’s word.  A disciple’s character and good works would naturally, by contrast alone, reveal the wickedness of the world and draw some people to pursue righteousness.  In addition to that, when we citizens of God’s kingdom share the word of God, when we make his revelation more widely known, that has the power to lead people to the truth, away from the lies of the world, much like a lighthouse would steer a ship away from dangerous rocks on the shore that would cause it to sink.

So, we are salt, empathetic, living with integrity by virtue of the Holy Spirit living inside of us and growing more-so every day.  There’s something about the inner life and the outward expression of Christ in his followers that make them first a preservative of society and culture and beauty (all the things you think about when you think of the Imago Dei, the image of God).  And secondly, we are light, there’s something about the work that we do that repels evil, something that also draws people to what’s good, to Christ.  And this naturally reveals the things that are hidden, especially motives that people have.    

Now, a couple of things we need to point out here.  1. Jesus teaches us that we should do our works openly so that everyone may see that we are different from those that are in the world.  We need to be light contrasting with darkness.  We need to be ministering to people.  Now this looks different for everybody.  I think of George Muller.  He lived in the 19th century and assumed that he was going to be a missionary, then he assumed that he was supposed to be a pastor, but then, unexpectedly, The Lord called him to open a home for orphans.  He ended up with 5 orphan houses, actually, which accommodated like 3,600 orphans.  It just goes to show you, you never know how the Lord is going to call you to shine your light in the world.       

The second thing I need to point out is that Jesus warns his followers, that if they cease to be salt, a moral preservative, they won’t be useful anymore.  If there’s no contrast between those of the world and those of Christ, these folks will cease to be any good to the kingdom.  And there’s an element of God’s judgement here.  If you’re found not to be salt, but something pretending to be salt, pretending to be a Christ follower, you’ll be trampled underfoot.  There’s a similar warning with light here, that if we neglect to do good and share God’s word openly, what good is that? 

In the end, being salt and light reveals whether a person is a true follower of Christ and a citizen of God’s kingdom.  Those who are joined to Christ and part of that kingdom will be, truly, salt and light.  Let’s not forget it!