“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 underfoot.”
When I was in 6th grade, my overly enthusiastic history teacher decided to make the unit on Ancient Egypt something we would never forget: we mummified fryer chickens and then held an Egyptian burial behind our classroom. My chicken, King Cluck, received the royal burial treatment of being rubbed down in table salt and packed into a plastic bin. We performed this ritual once a week for a month, preserving the (raw) chicken. I remember being kind of grossed out, kind of intrigued, but I also remember that our raw chicken did not rot or mold. The salt preserved them remarkably well!
In Jesus’ time, salt was used for this same purpose- and was essential for preserving food. Salt was so associated with preservation that it is mentioned back in the Old Testament as an indicator of God’s enduring, covenantal promises. Salt was a symbol for God’s covenant with Israel- an indicator of Israel’s partnership with God to preserve life on the earth. When Israel violated that covenant, God allowed other nations to conquer and oppress them.
So in Matthew 5, Jesus is announcing a renewal of saltiness! “You are the salt of the earth”- through Jesus, we can experience the blessings God intended for us. Being the salt of the earth is not just about what we do, but who we are.
I asked my kids if they thought salt could ever lose its saltiness as this passage suggests. “NO!” they insisted. “Salt is salty- it’s what makes it salt.” So, in a line of comedic rhetoric, as Bible scholar Tim Mackie suggests, salt can’t lose its saltiness, light can’t be dark, and a city on a hill can’t be hidden. We are either salty or we’re not. This sets up the rest of Matthew 5 so perfectly- where Jesus tells us what it means to be part of his Kingdom. He’s declaring that He is making a new thing and He is restoring an old promise. This healed and whole community of disciples is Jesus’ ‘salty crew,’ through which God’s enduring promises will move forward.
Gosh- isn’t the Bible fun? We can meditate on salt and see how living as part of Jesus’ Kingdom as renewed and redeemed people is part of God’s great plan.
Anna Nielsen
Outreach Team