Salt and Light (Matthew 5:13-16)
Salt & Light
Matthew 5:13-16
As you know, we are presently
Studying through the Sermon on the Mount.
And last week we finished a most penetrating portion of that sermon.
They are called the Beatitudes.
They describe in some detail the nature of a truly righteous person.
Namely they are the description of Jesus.
The tragedy we found is that none of us measure up to them.
Not one of us accurately portrays any of them.
And therefore we are driven to Jesus,
Who is the only one who can cause us to fulfill such lofty requirements.
And this morning we move on the next section.
The beatitudes gave the description of the righteous man.
This next section gives the EXPECTATION OF THE RIGHTEOUS MAN.
It actually looks at the righteous man from two directions.
The first analogy is a negative one.
As Jesus warns of the danger of being tasteless salt.
The second analogy is a positive one.
As Jesus speaks of the expectation of being a shining light.
But both in their simplest form
Describe the expectation of a righteous man.
Let’s look at these two analogies.
#1 YOU ARE SALT
Matthew 5:13
Jesus said very clearly, “You are the salt of the earth…”
The first question we have to ask is “Who is ‘You’”?
For some reason everyone applies this to the church.
But Jesus wasn’t talking to the church.
Who was Jesus talking to here?
And the answer in a physical sense is obviously
Those Jewish disciples who had gathered around Him.
The answer in a spiritual sense is all those who fulfill the beatitudes.
Jesus is speaking to all those who are righteous,
And I suppose we could even say He is speaking to those
Who perceive themselves to be.
And He says, “You are the salt of the earth;”
So next, WHAT IS “SALT”?
There are obviously many comparisons that could be made
The most popular is that of salt as a PRESERVATIVE.
And therefore views the righteous man
As a preservative to the world who keeps it from decay.
But this obviously has some problems.
• For every righteous man in the Old Testament only saw the world around him decay, not preserved.
• Furthermore when Jesus walked this earth, the world continued to decay, not to be preserved.
• And finally, even with the presence of the redeemed church, the world still continues to decay,
Scripture even promises as much.
2 Timothy 3:1-5 “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.”
Even John said,
1 John 2:17 “The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.”
The fact is that this world is rotting, and will continue to rot.
The righteous man has never prevented that.
Even Jesus didn’t do that.
SO WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF SALT THAT JESUS HERE ALLUDES TO?
He tips us off to what He was thinking
By showing us the effects of salt that doesn’t do its job.
“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless…”
He didn’t say, “but if the salt quits preserving”
He said, “if the salt becomes tasteless”
WHAT WAS THE PURPOSE OF SALT?
To add flavor.
And here Jesus says that is precisely the role of the righteous man.
PEOPLE ARE LOOKING FOR WHAT MAKES LIFE WORTH LIVING.
They season their lives with
Money, fame, toys, and pleasure,
But nothing can seem to make life taste any better.
Jesus explained them like this.
Matthew 9:36 “Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.”
And we know why they are like that.
This world, and the god of this world have kicked them in the teeth.
John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”
The world lives out their lives in spiritual poverty,
In spiritual death, and headed towards spiritual destruction.
They have no idea what makes life worth living.
That is why Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth.”
A righteous man then is one who continually offers the world
What makes life worth living.
They are not part of the world.
They are not seeking fulfillment where the world seeks it.
Remember their hunger is for righteousness.
Their desire is for purity of heart.
Instead they are out showing mercy and offering peace with God.
They are meeting the needs of others giving people true life.
This is what a righteous man does.
And a man who does not do this
Cannot lay claim to righteousness.
Listen to what Jesus said next.
“but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.”
And here is the negative aspect.
If you are not adding flavor,
If you are not showing others why life is worth living,
Then you are useless to God and the world.
Those of you who have been coming on and studying 2 Peter,
You know that Peter gave a list of 7 qualities and then a challenge.
2 Peter 1:5-8 “Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Peter was telling us how not to be useless.
And here Jesus says that salt without flavor is useless.
Now in a real sense, salt cannot become flavorless.
So we are not actually talking about flavorless salt, but rather fake salt.
We are talking about something that looks like salt,
But in reality is not because it has no flavor.
And this flavorless rock is useless.
SO WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TRUE SALT AND TASTELESS SALT?
TURN TO: LUKE 14:25-35
There Jesus implies that a disciple of Jesus who will not
Count the cost and follow anyway is a tasteless disciple.
If they won’t count the cost they are prone to shock & betrayal. (Rocky Soil)
If they won’t pay the cost they never follow to begin with. (Weedy Soil)
And that helps us understand the analogy here.
A righteous man is one who truly has found fulfillment in God
And who does not need the world.
And he is one who willingly forsakes this world
In order to offer true life to those who don’t have it
But those who will not are useless and will be thrown out.
Question # 1 Am I tasted or tossed?
A righteous man is salt to the world, are you?
And I must say that we are again
Condemned by the Sermon on the Mount.
Again we realize that if this is what a righteous man does
Then my righteousness is in serious question.
For while I may offer salt at some times, and while at times I offer flavor.
• There are also plenty of times when I am a lemon.
• There are times when instead of flavor I add bitterness.
• There are times when I want the things of the world instead of the things of God.
And Jesus is here calling that man out.
If you are righteous as the beatitudes explained,
Then you also never fail to be salt.
If you do fail to be salty, then despite what you think of yourself,
You are of no use to man or God.
Your only purpose is “to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.”
Then comes the next analogy.
#2 YOU ARE LIGHT
Matthew 5:14-16
I don’t know about you, but this one is a little perplexing.
Here Jesus says we are light, but I thought was His distinction?
John 1:4-5 “In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”
John 8:12 “Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”
I mean even John the Baptist did not claim to be the light.
John 1:6-8 “There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light.”
In fact Jesus had a different analogy for him.
John 5:33-35 “You have sent to John, and he has testified to the truth. “But the testimony which I receive is not from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. “He was the lamp that was burning and was shining and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. “
Jesus didn’t say John was the light,
Jesus said John was a lamp that shines the light.
So how can it be that Jesus would now say “You are the Light of the world”?
Because Jesus is talking to the righteous man
Who fulfills all of those beatitudes.
A man that is righteous like that really is the light.
He really does know the way.
And that man is extremely valuable to the world.
THIS WORLD IS COVERED IN DARKNESS.
And they need a light to show them the way out.
They need someone who will truly show them what God looks like.
Isn’t that what Jesus did?
Matthew 4:12-16 “Now when Jesus heard that John had been taken into custody, He withdrew into Galilee; and leaving Nazareth, He came and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: “THE LAND OF ZEBULUN AND THE LAND OF NAPHTALI, BY THE WAY OF THE SEA, BEYOND THE JORDAN, GALILEE OF THE GENTILES — “THE PEOPLE WHO WERE SITTING IN DARKNESS SAW A GREAT LIGHT, AND THOSE WHO WERE SITTING IN THE LAND AND SHADOW OF DEATH,
UPON THEM A LIGHT DAWNED.”
Jesus came and was righteousness incarnate and He shined the light.
This is what a righteous man does.
And let me inform you of something else.
TRUE LIGHT ALWAYS SHINES.
There is no such thing as light that does not shine.
Notice what Jesus says:
“A city on a hill cannot be hidden,
That means even if you wanted to take the light from a righteous man
You could not do it.
Then Jesus goes on to say that true light will not be hidden.
“nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.”
The insinuation is that truly righteous people
Really do shine their light all the time.
In fact Mark and Luke both credit Jesus to quoting this analogy
Directly after preaching the parable of the soils.
Let’s look at Luke’s analogy.
TURN TO: LUKE 8:11-18
The implication there is that if you are not shining light
Then you obviously did not hear the truth correctly
And must have a bad heart.
Because there is no such thing as a light that cannot shine
Or as a light that will not shine.
WELL WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO SHINE?
Look at verse 16.
“Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”
You may remember that the Jews had tremendous difficulty here.
Some didn’t try to shine a light at all.
Others shined a light but it was pointed at themselves.
• Gave when the trumpet sounded…
• Prayed on the street corner…
• Fasted with dirty faces…
The point was they were shining a light
But it was glorifying themselves, and not God.
Paul told them that instead of glorifying God, they were blaspheming God.
Romans 2:21-24 “you, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one shall not steal, do you steal? You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor God? For “THE NAME OF GOD IS BLASPHEMED AMONG THE GENTILES BECAUSE OF YOU,” just as it is written.”
SO HOW DOES A PERSON SHINE A LIGHT ON GOD?
When you walk in true righteousness.
WALK IN THOSE BEATITUDES
A person living there is a person who is truly glorifying God.
BECAUSE A PERSON LIVING LIKE THIS IS LIVING LIKE GOD.
And when you walk in them, you are a light to the world.
If you don’t, the insinuation is that you are not truly righteous,
Because the light of a righteous man cannot and would not be hidden.
And that leads to the next question.
Question #2 Am I Helpful of Hidden?
And again if any of us will be truly honest with ourselves
We have to see that there are hundreds of times
In which I fail to shine the light.
How many times have I seen someone I failed to share with?
How many times have I failed to illumine the way to God?
And all along we just pretend like we are
Exactly what Jesus said would not happen.
We convince ourselves that we have the light
But we just temporarily refused to shine it.
And Jesus just said THAT NEVER HAPPENS
And so, if I am not shining the light,
The only thing I can deduce is that I am not a righteous person.
YOU SEE WE COMMONLY QUOTE THESE PASSAGES OUT OF CONTEXT.
(I’ve even been guilty)
We quote them here with a missionary flavor
And puff ourselves up as salt and light.
But look at the context of this sermon.
• Jesus just listed 8 qualities that if you are honest you must admit that you do not have.
• Now Jesus lists two roles that if you are honest you do not fulfill.
The entire implication is to prove to you that you are not righteous.
And the entire point is to now push you to the only One who is.
That is why in the very next verse Jesus says this:
Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.”
You see the point is to prove to you that you do not measure up
So that you will look to the only one who does.
When we read these passages and then twist them
To pretend like we fulfill them
We do the same thing the self-righteous Jews were trying to do.
Jesus didn’t preach this passage to show you how good you are.
Jesus preached this passage to show you how bad you are.
SO THAT YOU WILL RUN TO HIM.
A truly righteous man is ALWAYS salt.
A truly righteous man is ALWAYS light.
If that is not you then rest assured you are not a righteous man.
And then run to the only Man who really was salt all the time.
And run to the only Man who really was the light of the world.
And let Him make you righteous in God’s sight.
And then, as He begins to work His work in you,
Slowly but surely you will become salt and light in this world.
On your own, it is obvious you do not measure up, but in Him you can finally become the righteous man God desires.
Paul said it like this.
2 Corinthians 5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
That is the offer to you
And that is the intention of the Sermon on the Mount.
1. See what a righteous man is.
2. See that you are not.
3. See the only man who was.
4. And give your life to Him.
If you want His righteousness
All you have to do is listen to the invitation He gives in this sermon
Matthew 7:7-8 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”
If you read that same passage in Luke’s gospel it says this:
Luke 11:9-13 “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. “For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened. “Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? “Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”
Jesus isn’t talking about asking for anything at all.
• He is referring to asking for salvation.
• He is talking about asking to be Holy.
• He is talking about asking to be righteous.
And if you realize you are not, but you ask Him to make you that way,
Then He will credit His righteousness to your account
And make you righteous before God.
Furthermore He will begin to work a change in your life
And start making you more and more like Him.
This morning will you ask Him to work that change in you?
Realize what you are and run to Jesus.
