Lectionary Bible Studies and Sermons


Matthew

The light of the world. 5:13-16

[Seed logo] Introduction
      The two parables of salt and light appear in the Sermon on the Mount after the beatitudes. These two parables set the direction of the sermon. God's children must be salt and light in the world. Those who fail in this task will be declared worthless. The sad fact is, we have all failed and are therefore worthless. Yet, there is one who is salt and light and if we identify with him, then we are no longer worthless.

The passage
      v13. In this verse Matthew records the parable of the salt.
      At Mount Sinai, Moses proclaimed God's law and declared that Israel was to be salt in a pagan world. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus demands a similar ideal. His disciples are to be the preservative of a corrupt world. Yet, to be this salt they will need to attain a righteous that exceeds that of the Scribes and the Pharisees. They must be "a moral disinfectant in a world where moral standards are low, constantly changing, or non existent. They can discharge this function only if they retain their virtue", Tasker. The disciple who fails to do this will be rejected by God. Yet, Jesus' intention is not to repeat the Mosaic exhortation and its curse, but rather remind his hearers that all now stand under the curse. Salt we must be, but salt we are not.
      How shall the new Israel of God escape the curse? How shall we escape the rejection of God? The beatitudes answer the question. The broken one, the rejected one, the humble one, the one who desires mercy from God, is the one who receives mercy. The person who hungers is the one who is fed. Thankfully, there is one faithful Israelite who is the salt of the world and by grace through faith we who desire mercy can be salt in him. Once we identify with Jesus we no longer face condemnation.
      Yet Jesus still calls on the new Israel (the Christian community) to be salt in the world. In the fullest sense, Jesus is the salt of the world. His righteousness has become the righteousness of all who desire it. He is the faithful Israelite, the son of God, the pure salt. So first and foremost, it is Christ who savors the world. All we can do is bask in his faithfulness.
      Yet in a secondary sense, the church, as the body of Christ, must strive to be salt as Christ is salt. We must be that "moral disinfectant", and so "convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgement", Jn.16:8.

      v14-16. Matthew goes on to record the parable of the light.
      Unlike the other gospel writers, Matthew applies this parable in v16. The disciple must shine. We must let our light shine before men that they might see our good deeds and praise the Father in heaven. Yet in what sense is Jesus encouraging his disciples to display God's glory in their good works?
      Bonhoeffer puts it this way, "flight into the invisible is a denial of the call. A community of Jesus which seeks to hide itself has ceased to follow him." "The good word without the good walk is of no value", Stier. Of course, Jesus has in mind the heart of the deed, not the outward show. In dealing with piety he makes the point, "be careful not to do your acts of righteousness before men, to be seen by them", Matt.6:1-18? Much of the hypocrisy of institutional Christianity is found in the desire to display ecclesiastical piety before the wider community. It is believed such righteousness validates the faith and so gains an opening for the gospel. The ends justify the means! The only trouble is "our righteousness is but filthy rags" and when we try to show ourselves otherwise, our hypocrisy smells to high heaven.
      Israel was to be a light to the Gentiles. The "wisdom of Solomon" (truth, the prophetic word, proclaimed and applied in the life of the covenant community) was to radiate to a broken and lost world. This light glorifies God for it serves to gather the lost from the ends of the earth. Jesus gives the same purpose to the new Israel of God.
      Yet, in this demand for exceeding righteousness Jesus has another and far more important purpose. His instruction reminds us that, like Israel of old, we don't shine, and can't (perfectly) shine. Light we should be, but light we are not. "Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God - through Jesus Christ our Lord!" There is one person who properly serves as "the light of the world." Jesus is that light on a stand; he is the city set on a hill. In the fullest sense, Jesus is the light of the world. The true light is the Suffering Servant, Isa.42:6, 49:6, and Jesus is that light, Matt.4:16, cf. Jn.8:12, 9:15, 12:35, 1Jn.2:15. He is the true Israelite who knows the truth, proclaims the truth and lives the truth. He has faithfully followed God's way, and so in his life, death and resurrection, has brought "praise" to his "Father in heaven." By grace through faith we bathe in his light; we are light in him.
      Yet, Jesus still calls on the new Israel to be the light of the world. As Paul explains in Ephesians 5:8-9, because we are light in Christ, there is a natural prompt for us to live as children of the light. We are called to live in love and thus exhibit Christ's redemption to our broken and lost world. So let us become what we are, light in the midst of darkness.

Discussion
      1. How can salt loose its saltiness?
      2. In what way was Israel to be salt in the world?
      3. How is Jesus salt and how do we be salt in him?
      4. How was Israel to let their light shine?
      5. Who is the true light and how does his light shine?


Notes

Textual notes   Abbreviations,   Bibliography
 
The Sermon on the Mount
      The Sermon on the Mount establishes Jesus' teaching on the doctrine of justification by grace through faith. It does it in a roundabout, but powerful way. Jesus begins with the beatitudes which serve as the opening statement of grace. The message is a simple one - blessed are you lost who desire to know God, for you will come to know him. As Jesus said "it is the sick who need a doctor." Jesus came to call sinners to repentance, not the righteous. The simple truth revealed in the beatitudes is that it is those who hunger and thirst for righteousness who are saved. So, blessed are you sinners who want to be righteous, for you will be "filled". It is the "lost", the broken, the repentant sinner.... who enters the "Kingdom of Heaven", "inherits the earth", is "comforted", "will see God" and "have mercy shown to them". So, those who seek will find. The theology upon which this gift of righteousness rests (the gift of God's grace given on the basis of Jesus' death and resurrection, appropriated through the instrument of faith) must await the exposition of Paul the apostle.
      Matthew then goes on to make the point that Law righteousness is beyond the grasp of we mere mortals. To "enter the Kingdom of heaven" requires a righteousness which "surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law". Such righteousness is beyond us. To drive this point home, Jesus explains the full requirements of the law, and thus leaves us in no doubt that we have failed to obey the law. Even when we claim some merit by at least keeping the commandments on adultery and murder, we are reminded that we have broken these as well. The thought is as good as the deed in God's eyes. So all of us are mere sinners and under the judgement of God. We are indeed people who have built our "house on the sand" and so face the "great crash." Our only hope is to enter the house of someone who has built his house on the rock, someone who has heard and done the will of God (namely Jesus).
      In this terrible state we can but cry for mercy. Of course, this is the main point of the exercise. God is merciful to those who cry out for mercy. It is the repentant sinner who is saved, not the (self) righteous churchman. As noted above, we must await the exposition of the apostle to understand how the obedience of Christ applies to the sinner. It is Paul who explains that Christ is the one righteous Israelite and that his righteousness, by grace, is imputed and imparted to those who believe. By this means the repentant sinner can stand perfect before the judge of the universe and receive the reward of faithful obedience (albeit not their own, but the obedience of Christ).
      Although the Sermon on the Mount details a righteousness that only Christ can keep, it is a righteousness which we, in the power of the indwelling Spirit of Christ, must aim at. We will never do it, but as disciples of Christ we must follow him to Calvary, we must take up our cross and follow and thus learn from him. So, the Sermon on the Mount, as well as driving us to the cross for mercy, drives us forward in the journey of discipleship and thus prepares us for our rule with Christ in eternity.

The parable of the salt
      The parable of the salt is found in all three synoptic gospels, Mk.9:50, Lk.14:34-35. All three versions are slightly different, and give different applications. If there was some common form of the parable it may have gone something like " Salt is good, but if it looses its saltiness it is good for nothing, but to throw away." Of course, the image is such a common one, Jesus could well have used it differently in different situations.
      The idea of saltless salt was well understood by people of the time. Leached rock-salt may look like salt and was once mostly salt, but now all that is left is a chemical residue which can no longer preserve, purify, savor or fertilize (salt was used in small quantities to fertilize the ground). Such salt is worthless other than to be mixed with mud and used to waterproof a roof and then trodden under foot.
      As with many of Jesus' parables, there is often no interpretation offered, or there are different interpretations carried through the oral tradition of the apostolic church, which constantly shaped that tradition in the preaching environment. We may guess that the parable of the salt was first applied to Israel. God's historic people were to purify the world about them. (A similar idea runs through the parable of the light - Israel was to be a light to the Gentiles). Jesus' condemnation of Israel stemmed from their being saltless salt, worth nothing but to be cast aside and trodden under foot (judged).
      Mark's application of the parable is rather vague. "Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other", Mk.9:50b. This seems to stress fellowship within the Christian community. Luke uses the parable without a direct application, but its context dictates a discipleship interpretation. A disciple who "does not carry his cross and follow" Jesus, 14:26, is as saltless salt. "Any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple". Such a person is good for nothing, but to be "thrown out." Matthew, at one level, pushes toward a discipleship interpretation as well. He even defines the direction of this discipleship. "You are the salt of the earth." The disciple's responsibility is to exert a purifying and preserving influence upon the world. If we fail to do this we will be rejected by God.
      So, in the context of the Sermon on the Mount, the parable does serve as a discipleship law that gives direction in the Christian life, yet this is not its prime purpose. Matthew uses the parable to exposes sin. It reminds us that we are "saltless salt" "no longer good for anything." It is also possible, that Luke intends this purpose, although he does seem to emphasize the discipleship angle more than Matthew.

The parable of light
      This parable appears also in Mark, 4:21, and Luke 8:16 and 11:33. Only Matthew gives a clear and direct application. The other gospel writers imply an application.
      In its historical setting, this parable may have focused on the failure of Israel to be a light to the Gentiles. God's truth to the world was hidden in the corruption of Israel's institutions and public life and in its failure to proclaim the truths of God's revelation beyond the covenant community. More specifically, it could apply to the Pharisees in Jesus' own time. So, Israel was to be the "light of the world", "a city on a hill", a lamp "on its stand." This was Israel's purpose, but it failed. Of course, as noted above, light is a common element of life and Jesus may well have used the image differently in different situations.
      Mark uses the parable to teach a truth about the mystery of the Kingdom. Jesus presents the gospel in parables (in riddles) to draw out the true seeker. The purpose of the parable is not to confuse, but to separate the hearers. It is God's intention that the light of the gospel, the Word of God, is not hidden under a bowl, but placed on a lamp stand for all to see. The parable proclaims the gospel for those who have eyes to see. So be careful what you see. "Consider carefully what you hear."
      Luke presents a similar teaching in 8:16, while in 11:33 he again makes the same point, but in a different context. The saying follows the "sign of Jonah" discourse. The sign of Jonah is not his three days in the belly of a "big fish" (to represent Jesus' three days in the tomb), but his preaching to Nineveh. Similarly, the sign is imaged in the wisdom of Solomon displayed to "the Queen of the South." The sign to this "wicked generation" is the sign of a proclaimed word. In this sense, God does not hide his word under a tub, but lifts it high for all to see.
      When it comes to Matthew, the light set on the stand is not so much the gospel in words, but rather the gospel in deeds. The son/child of God is to exhibit this exceeding righteous to the world and so bring glory to God. Yet, although in a secondary sense the parable encourages the doing of these deeds of righteousness, its prime purpose is to expose our failure to do them and so lift our eyes to the one who has done them.


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