Matthew 5:13-16
“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.
“You are the light of the world. A city 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 men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:13-16)
The first section of these verses about the salt was confusing to me. I thought it was probably because of the time period, but after reading it will the part about light the salt made more sense.
In the section about light, Jesus explains: Light is not something that people try to hide. When we turn on a light, we don’t try to keep the rays to ourselves (except maybe when I am reading in bed and Heather is asleep). We share light, even if we don’t realize that we are. I remember back to junior high school history class when the teacher was talking about the American settlers putting up fences. The Indians didn’t understand this, and my teacher made the analogy of air. Taking claim to land was as strange a concept to them as it would be to us if people took claim to air. So, in the same way that we don’t make claim to air, we don’t normally take claim to light and try to keep it to ourselves. Jesus then teaches that we should do good things in the name of God, and lead others by example.
Understanding the light section really brought the salt section into focus. By Jesus saying we are the salt of the earth, I think he is saying: we will last forever in this world by spreading to those we come in contact with.
First, if you understand salt, you will know that salt cannot become unsalty. The very properties of salt constitute what it is. It is like saying that water has lost it wetness. Un-wet water is not water at all, it is nothing. The only way to make salt unsalty is to wash it away into nothing. However, once diluted away it makes salty all that came in contact with it. If you have a shaker of salt, and put it into a pot of water, you no longer have salt, but you now have salty water. Then if you cook something in that pot of water, the item you cook becomes salty. So, we are like salt who with our faith cannot be made to lose it. We can be washed away into nothing, but in all actuality our properties live on in those we touch.