Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany February 9, 2014 SALT & LIGHT (MATTHEW 5:13-16) 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 by men. 11 " You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 11 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. 11 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. Introduction: Do you remember the hit song of 1966, What s It All About, Alfie? The song was a promotion for the movie of the same name. My summary of the song s/movie s theme is found in these two words Identity Crisis. A very self-centered, self-absorbed, just plain selfish man, Alfie, through a series of events eventually asks this question, What s it all about? (By the way, I am not recommending you see this film. I think I tried to watch it many years ago, but soon lost interest. Nonetheless, I have heard the song numerous times on the radio performed by one of my favorite vocalists, Dionne Warwick.) I think most people, especially during their teens, ask questions like these: What s it all about? What is the purpose of life? Why am I here? Who am I anyway? Don t worry, I am not going to give you a lecture on pop-psychology, or even attempt to spiritualize it with a Get-Real-for-Jesus message. However, I do want to ask this question, Who are we? What is our identity in Christ? Does it matter to an on-looking world? Let s see what Jesus has to say on these matters. Context: This is the second in Jesus longest recorded message, the Sermon on the Mount, found in Matthew 5-7. The first section dealt with His path to eternal happiness, true blessed-
ness, with is known as the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12). Now He uses two metaphors to describe our influence in society, salt and light. By the way, every home in the first century Palestine, even the poorest, used salt and light which were indispensable household commodities. In other words, Jesus is seeking to connect with His original hearers with His life-giving truths. In essence, He is putting the cookie on the lowest shelf, so they can grasp and actualize what He is teaching.i. Salt (5:13) 5:l3 In this verse (and verse 14) a statement of fact description is given about the beatitude ( blessed ) people: You are salt; you are light. (The text does not say you will be, you can be, or you must be salt and light.) Salt has numerous functions but its primary usages in Jesus day were that of preventing the corruption of food (see Leviticus 11:13; Ezekiel 43:24) and seasoning food (see Job 6:6; Colossians 4:6). Scientifically it is impossible for salt to lose its saltiness, but it may become adulterated and impure by mixture with other elements such as dirt. Thrown out and trampled by men was the common way of disposing of one s trash. A later Jewish writing, the Talmud., mentions how salt unfit for sacrificial use in the storehouse was sprinkled in wet weather upon the slopes and steps of the temple to prevent the feet of the priests from slipping. The question, But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?, is rhetorical not interrogative. (An interrogative question asks for information and expects an answer, while a rhetorical question expects no answer and is used for shock value to get the readers or hearers attention.) Obviously, once salt has lost its saltiness (if that is even possible), it cannot be made salty again. In essence, Jesus seems to be saying, Be the salt you already are! Salt is utterly useless if it is not functioning It is no longer good for any thing. This same thought is brought out with the light metaphor in verse 15 in regard to a burning lamp being useless if it is put under a bowl. QUESTION: Salt, a very precious commodity in first century Palestine, is used in 5:13 as a metaphor which points to one of its functions. Does salt here refer to a preservative function (like keeping a bad world from going worse as is suggested by the persecutors in 5:10-12), or does it refer to a tasty function (like giving flavor and meaning and true life - blessedness - to a bland and unhappy world)? ANSWER: Both alternatives are possible, since both preservation and taste (Job 6:6; Col. 4:6) were common usages in Biblical times. Taste, however, is to be understood here as Jesus intended meaning. The major reason is that salt and light are parallel to each other. Since light has a positive function of spreading light, so salt would have a positive function of spreading taste (not a negative function of holding back spoilage or evil).
QUESTION: Matthew 5:13 contains a conditional clause which says, if salt loses its saltiness. Since this is scientifically impossible, this clause may be understood in one of two ways. [A] Just as salt cannot lose its saltiness, so the followers of Jesus (the blessed people) by their very nature have an inner compulsion to witness to the world. Or [B] though salt cannot literally lose its saltiness, it can become adulterated by other elements such as dirt and sand. Therefore, Jesus is warning His followers to serve in the world or they will become useless and rejected. Is option A or B correct? ANSWER: Though salt can go bad by contamination with other elements, I still argue that option A is correct. It is important to remember that salt is parallel to light. Verse 14 says that a city on a hill cannot be hidden which shows the impossibility of hiding an entire city. By its very location or nature it will be seen by others. It is also incredible that someone would put a burning lamp under a basket (5:15). By its very nature the lamp is meant to give light to the house. There is no parallel idea of adulteration or contamination in 5:14-16. II. Light (5:14-16) 5:l4 Hill (oros) is the same Greek word used in 5:l and 8:l. 5:l5 The lamp (luchnos) was a very inexpensive and small earthen vessel used by the poor. The bowl (modios) was an earthenware grain-measuring container of about a peck or eight quarts. This was a common utensil in the typical rural household. The stand in as simple cottage consisted of a projecting stone in the wall on which the lamp (luchnos) was set. Give light to everyone in the house clearly indicates a very simple one-room village home in which most people lived in that day. To light (kaiō) a lamp stresses the action of keeping something burning rather than actually starting afire or lighting a lamp. Jesus is not focusing upon lighting and putting out (by covering with the bowl ) the lamp. His emphasis is upon the proper use or purpose of the lamp. 5:l6 Let your light shine before men may be an allusion to a Jewish sect known as the Qumran community or the Essenes who referred to themselves as the sons of light. They lived in isolated communities near the Dead Sea, which was less than one hundred miles to the south of the Sea of Galilee (where Jesus was teaching). They had a very strict interpretation of the Old Testament and withdrew from society which they considered to be evil and completely permeated with darkness. There are two purposes for obeying the command of this verse: [1] that they may see your good deeds and [2] that they may praise your Father in heaven. It seems strange that men would see the blessed people s good deeds, yet God is to get the credit and praise. The good deeds somehow point to God not the actual (human) doer of the good deeds.
Good (kalos) has the meaning of beautiful, while another Greek word agathos is good in an absolute (good/bad; right/wrong) sense. Kalos stresses the beautiful style in which the deeds are done, not the essential goodness of the deeds in and of themselves. QUESTION: Does your light in 5:16 refer to the disciples good deeds, or does it refer to some quality in them which helps others to see the good deeds and give praise to God? ANSWER: The nature of light is to help others see ( gives light to everyone in the house in 5:15) other objects and know where they are going. A deed in and of itself does not necessarily enlighten anyone. Also, the Greek word for good (kalos) may be translated as beautiful or attractive and points to the manner or beautiful style in which the deed is done. The command in 5:16 ( let your light shine ) is parallel to the command in 5:12 ( Rejoice and be glad ). The quality ( light ) which helps others to see their good (or beautiful ) deeds is joy. QUESTION: In 5:16 how can people let their light shine in such a way that God gets the credit ( praise your Father in heaven ) and not the person ( your good deeds )? Normally when someone does a good deed, he himself gets the recognition and honor for it, not someone else. ANSWER: God gets the credit because He is the One in control of their lives not the people themselves. (In 5:3,10 Jesus refers to God s rule as king in their lives by using the phrase kingdom of heaven. ) God is the one who gives the reasons for blessedness or happiness in 5:4-9, as well as giving them the basis for their joy in 5:12 ( great is your reward in heaven - a gift only God is able to give). God, the heavenly Father, is actually the one doing all the work in making His sons (5:9) happy. His children naturally will then point out to others how He is making them blessed and full of joy. The key way in this passage to let your light shine is by following the commands in 5:12 ( Rejoice and be glad ) even during the most difficult circumstances (persecution). Since there does not seen to be any earthly reason why these people are so happy, people will be forced to consider a heavenly reason which points to God. Personal Application Salt is able to give taste to something that is tasteless. There are many people in our society today who are living without a hope and you are unhappy or worried. We believers are there to give hope to these people. We all know that salt is put into food while it is cooking and can make a big difference in a recipe. Similarly, we make a difference in people s lives for their eternal good. To do otherwise is to compromise and our influence will greatly be reduced, like salt losing its saltiness.
Can you imagine a world without light? Me neither. How many hearts are darkened in our world with the bondage of self-absorption and the meaningless self-centeredness? How many are on a path to self-destruction? So many hearts are hardened and minds are darkened that they cannot even see the mess that they are in. Yet there are moments of realization that there may be something else, Someone else, who is far above mindless pleasures and a senseless existence. Could it be that there is more to life than the temporal? Is there an eternal reality that can even put a sparkle in the present? Jesus says this to you and me: You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. As salt we give taste to a substance that is beyond us. As light we point the way to a reality that is infinitely above us. What is that substance? What is that reality? Let s put it this way: What s It All About, Alfie? Our answer? Jesus, our Lord, our Savior, our Good Shepherd, the Light of the World, and His death and resurrection. As salt and light we rejoice in telling others of the joy and peace we have because of the reality in John 3:16: God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life. I continue to praise God for believers who gave that life-giving message to me over forty years ago. Me, a sin-loving, hell-bound, atheistic rebel against the Almighty God. Isn t it wonderful for you and me to let anyone and everyone know of the Heavenly Father s love, particularly the precious gift of His Son Jesus? It is His amazing grace that has made us Salt & Light and continues to influence a bland and dark world. Thank You, dear Lord. Salt & Light by the Cross & Empty Tomb, Pastor Steve Waterman