The salt is a symbol of the covenant with God and how God penetrates, preserves, and aids in our life.
Do you worship and meditate with a song? I do! I do not play well or sing much better, but I appreciate and I am thankful to those that do and share their gifts with us. I especially like music and songs that help me relate to scripture. When I read Matthew 5:13-20 the song that comes to mind is Salt and Light by Lauren Daigle
SALT and LIGHT
By Lauren Daigle
Oh, the beauty of the King
You make righteous those who seek
You have written and redeemed my story
Let my eyes see Your kingdom shine all around
Let my heart overflow with passion for Your name
Let my life be a song, revealing who You are
For You are salt and light
Oh, the love that set me free
You bring hope to those in need
You have written and redeemed my story
Let my eyes see Your kingdom shine all around
Let my heart overflow with passion for Your name
Let my life be a song, revealing who You are
For You are salt and light
You are love’s great height
You are deep and wide
A consuming fire
You are salt and light
You are…
Lauren sings of how Jesus has written and redeemed her story, because of who He is. In this passage, Jesus is revealing that God had already written His story and He has come to fulfill the Law and Prophets. When I think of how the Gospel, Jesus’ Story, had to be fulfilled so each of us could be covered and adopted into this story, I am brought to a place of awe.
But why does Jesus use Salt and Light to relate with fulfilling the Law and Prophets? Have you ever just wanted to go back and really embrace this period of time and culture to better appreciate what Jesus was sharing with them and how this relates to us today? What was so significant about salt and light in their culture that a crowd would gather and Jesus would be so intimate to sit down and share with the crowd? I imagine many voices in the crowd.
Jesus sharing with the crowd, “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.
“You are the light of the world. A town built 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 others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:13-16)
I hear a young man with his friends say, “Hey wait, shhhh—listen, I want to hear what this man, Jesus, is saying!”
One of the friends say, “Why?”
The young man, “Because my grandfather use to share something with us boys about what salt does and how it played a part in our grain offerings. (Leviticus 2:13) The salt is a symbol of the covenant with God and how God penetrates, preserves, and aids in our life, just like the salt aids in the flavor of the grain or meat. And wait for the light, I have heard my father and mother both speak of the light when they would say, ‘Lord is my light and my salvation whom shall I fear?’ (Psalm 27:1) Guys quiet down, I want to hear this man! What does this mean that we are the salt and light? Shhhh, listen!”
Someone else would ask, “Does this mean if I am not salty, I am useless?”
Still another one in the crowd would say, “So, we are supposed to shine our goodness! I do not understand, tell me more!”
Again, like in our day and age, I imagine not all were listening. I am sure some people came just to heckle, to cause distractions and even some that would have been outraged at what Jesus was sharing.
I am not a biblical scholar, but I imagine something like the above dialogue going on by those that were trying to crowd Jesus to hear him, while others did not understand and were mocking and distracting.
Whether I have an accurate or inaccurate image in my head, what I am sure of is Jesus was calling and inviting each of us to be the Salt and Light of the earth. I encourage each of us to spend some time reflecting on this invitation and what it means to penetrate and shine for others to see Jesus. Spend some time re-reading this passage and continue to wrestle and respond to this scripture by believing that Jesus is who He said he was and that He came to fulfill the Law and Prophets, and because of Him we can live out our life in obedience with others. Also, spend some time reflecting on that fact that Jesus is the redeemer of our stories. How is Jesus redeeming your story? Do you need to ask Him to be your redeemer?
In my head, I can hear Laura sing, “Let my eyes see Your kingdom shine all around, Let my heart overflow with passion for Your name,
Let my life be a song, revealing who You are…”
Father, thank you for your invitation and call in our life! Thank you for your light and the light you give to all to shine for others to see and know who You are! Help us to know You more and more so that we shine brighter and brighter for You! Thank you for being our Redeemer! Father, reveal to each of us, who we need to be shining Your light on! Amen!
