Redeemer Women s Bible Study Winter 2018 Sermon on the Mount Week 5: The Beatitudes Part 5 & Salt and Light, Matthew 5:8-16

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1 Week 5: The Beatitudes Part 4 & Salt and Light, Matthew 5:1-16 The week s homework: Read Matthew 5:1-16 Answer the Bible Study Questions Then read Chapter 5 Future Blessings Now & 6 Christian in the World in Sinclair Ferguson s : Kingdom Life in a Fallen World BIBLE STUDY Now that we have studied The Beatitudes individually, lets reflect on them together (Matthew 5:3-12) and their blessings: 1. How do you see each beatitude connect to the other? What progression do you see in the order? 2. List all the rewards that come from a blessed life: 3. What is the overall message Jesus conveyed with these beatitudes? What newspaper headline would you give? Now read Matthew 5: Jesus starts each metaphor with the phrase You are When someone speaking to you starts a sentence with that phrase, how do you tend to respond? 5. Think about how Jesus listeners would have understood the metaphors used: a. Salt What are the various functions of salt in ancient life? What happens if the salt is omitted? Pour some salt in your hand, what do you notice as you look at it, touch it, taste it? Week 5, Matthew 5:1-16 1

2 b. Light What are the benefits of light? Jesus also refers to a city on a hill in this metaphor, what are the benefits of a city on a hill? Sit in a pitch black room, then light a candle, what do you observe about the difference between dark and light, and the effect of the candle? 6. According to Jesus words, what happens when people lose the functionality of salt and light? And what happens when they function properly? 7. Summarize Jesus teachings in this section/write a newspaper headline: Week 5, Matthew 5:1-16 2

3 If you have extra time, consider these additional scriptures and questions. If no time, SKIP THIS section and go to the reading (2 chapters this week): Salt. There are several references to salt in the Old Testament that are interesting Leviticus 2: 13 You shall season all your grain offerings with salt. You shall not let the salt of the covenant with your God be missing from your grain offering; with all your offerings you shall offer salt. Numbers 18:19 All the holy contributions that the people of Israel present to the LORD I give to you, and to your sons and daughters with you, as a perpetual due. It is a covenant of salt forever before the LORD for you and for your offspring with you. 2 Chronicles 13:5 Ought you not to know that the LORD God of Israel gave the kingship over Israel forever to David and his sons by a covenant of salt? 2 Kings 2:19-21 Now the men of the city said to Elisha, Behold, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees, but the water is bad, and the land is unfruitful. 20 He said, Bring me a new bowl, and put salt in it. So they brought it to him. 21 Then he went to the spring of water and threw salt in it and said, Thus says the LORD, I have healed this Deuteronomy 29:22-26 Ezra 4:14 water; from now on neither death nor miscarriage shall come from it. And the next generation, your children who rise up after you, and the foreigner who comes from a far land, will say, when they see the afflictions of that land and the sicknesses with which the LORD has made it sick 23 the whole land burned out with brimstone and salt, nothing sown and nothing growing, where no plant can sprout, an overthrow like that of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, which the LORD overthrew in his anger and wrath 24 all the nations will say, Why has the LORD done thus to this land? What caused the heat of this great anger? 25 Then people will say, It is because they abandoned the covenant of the LORD, the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt, 26 and went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods whom they had not known and whom he had not allotted to them. Now because we eat the salt of the palace and it is not fitting for us to witness the king's dishonor, therefore we send and inform the king, What are the various ways in which you see salt used in the Old Testament? Extra Biblical statements about salt: Salt was very valuable in Jesus day. The Romans believed that, except for the sun, nothing was worth more than salt. They often paid their soldiers in salt, a practice from which came the saying Not worth his salt. Salt is a flavoring agent, for certain foods would be tasteless and flat without the proverbial pinch of salt. Salt is also a preservative, absorbing water from foods, making them too dry to support harmful mold or bacteria. Much of the salt used in Jesus day came from the Dead Sea. The impure salt taken from this area was susceptible to deterioration that left only useless crystals. Such salt couldn t be restored and thus had lost its saltiness. i Week 5, Matthew 5:1-16 3

4 The Ezra 4:14 passage uses this meaning: There was a close connection between salt and promises. When men ate together they became friends. For example, the Arabic expression, There is salt between us and He has eaten of my salt, both represent the cementing of a friendship. Covenants were generally confirmed by sacrificial meals and salt was always present as a symbol of the enduring covenant. The custom of pledging friendship and confirming a compact by eating food-containing salt is still in practice among Arabic-speaking people. The Arabic word for salt and for a compact or treaty is the same. Once even his worst enemy has eaten salt (food) with him, an Arab is bound to protect his guest as long as he remains. ii What word is associated with the seasoning of salt in this New Testament verse? Colossians 4:6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. LIGHT OF THE WORLD In the Old Testament, what instances do you remember where God is represented with light? What happens when that light appears? The New Testament is filled with passages that refer to Jesus as light. Note any observations from the passages: Matthew 4:16 the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned. John 1:4-5, In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 8:12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. Do people always appreciate light according to the Bible? Who does not appreciate the light? John 3:19-20 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. Week 5, Matthew 5:1-16 4

5 Who gives men the ability and desire to see light? And thus the ability to be light? Acts 9:3-5 Now as he (Saul) went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. 4 And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? 5 And he said, Who are you, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 2 Corinthians 4:6 For God, who said, Let light shine out of darkness, has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Ultimately what will be fulfilled at the end of time in regards to light? Revelation 22:22- And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the 26 Lamb. 23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, 25 and its gates will never be shut by day and there will be no night there. 26 They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. READING Read Chapter 5 Future Blessings Now & 6 Christian in the World in Sinclair Ferguson s : Kingdom Life in a Fallen World What did you find particular interesting and helpful in the reading? Week 5, Matthew 5:1-16 5

6 APPLICATION Finally, take all these insights from your study of God s word and the reading and consider how to apply them to your life. These questions will be discussed in our small group study,. 1. After reading the beatitudes, what comfort do you receive from knowing the blessings that come with those characteristics? 2. What impact does it have on you to realize that part of your identity, as a believer is being salt and light? Are you encouraged, scared, overwhelmed, fired up, guilty, confused? 3. How does your life add flavor, preservative and light to those around you? How would you like to grow in this? 4. Where does our saltiness and light come from? How do we lose it? 5. Has your travel around the world, helped you appreciate the influence a Judeo Christian worldview has had on salting/preserving the ideas and norms of our nation? How do we need to continue to act as salt to preserve our culture? 6. In what ways are you living in the world as salt and light? And how can we pray for your impact there? PRAYER and MEMORY: Write a prayer reflecting on the passages studied this week. Also, you might want to identify a verse or a theme you would like to memorize, meditate on and pray over this week. i Taken from Explore the Bible,, published by LifeWay. ii Week 5, Matthew 5:1-16 6