“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.” (Matt. 5:13)
“Salt of the earth” is a common expression with biblical origins. The phrase comes from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount: “You are the salt of the earth” (Matthew 5:13). Jesus meant that the ordinary people he was addressing — fishermen, shepherds, laborers — were worth a great deal more than they realized.
He is alluding not to the tang of Salt but to its value. Salt was highly prized as a preservative of food – so precious that it was used as money. Roman soldiers were sometimes paid in Salt, giving us the word “salary,” derived from the Latin word for Salt — “sal.”
Today calling someone “the salt of the earth” is a huge compliment. We can use that phrase to describe someone’s goodness, kindness, genuineness, humility, and trustworthiness.
But is that exactly what Jesus was describing? Are those things the meaning of being “the salt of the earth”?
In Mark 9:50, Jesus said, “Salt is good; but if Salt loses its saltiness, how will it become salty again? Maintain Salt among yourselves and keep peace with each other.”
In Luke 14:34-35 He shared a similar thought: “Salt is good; but if the Salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is neither fit for the land nor the dunghill, but men throw it out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
In all three statements, one clear theme emerges: Salt is good only if it remains salty.
Technically, Salt — the chemical compound of sodium chloride — can’t become “unsalty.” According to Luke Morris, “It is, of course, impossible for Salt (sodium chloride) to lose its taste, but the Salt in use in first-century Palestine was far from pure. The sodium chloride could be leached out of the impure Salt in common use so that what was left lacked the taste of Salt. It was useless. It could not fertilize the land or even decompose usefully on the manure heap.”
Photo by Marcos Paulo Prado on Unsplash
A salt lamp provides both salt and light.
The result in such a case would be, in essence, unsalty Salt — totally useless and good for nothing “but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.”
After describing His disciples as the Salt of the earth, Jesus called them “the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14), pointing out that no one only lights a lamp to hide it.
Salt that has no taste and light that cannot be seen — these things are useless. No, they’re worse than useless. They represent wasted potential. Salt could have added flavor. Light that could have pushed back the darkness. Potentially life-changing — but instead, tasteless and hidden.
Salt and light — these things are intended to positively impact the world.
You are worth a great deal more to the world around you than you may realize.
You are the salt of the earth.
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