Salt, Light, and Our Mission: Matthew 5:13-16

As we continue into the gospels looking at the parables and illustrations Jesus shared, we come to a pair of illustrations Jesus uses during His famous Sermon on the Mount. While these illustrations aren’t classified as parables in one sense, these are illustrations that teach us something about God and about His plan for us.

Let’s read these two illustrations and discover what Jesus teaches us about God’s plan and ideal for us as His people. Our passage is found in Matthew’s gospel, chapter 5, and we will read it from the New International Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 13, Matthew quotes Jesus teaching the crowd, saying:

¹³ “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.

¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ 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. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

In these four short verses, Jesus challenges all of us with the truth that we affect others. While those in the crowd composed of Jesus’ disciples, Jesus’ followers, and those curious about Jesus, the truth Jesus shares, specifically that we have an effect on others, is true whether we are followers of God or not. Jesus challenges everyone present, and us as well, that we are to live in a way that benefits others.

The first illustration, which focuses on salt, illustrates this idea in a significant way. In that culture, salt was used to preserve food, and to a lesser extent, it was used for flavoring. Nowadays, we use salt more as a seasoning. Regardless of how salt is used, it’s only as good as it’s characteristics. If salt loses the properties that make it useful for preservation or for enhancing flavor, then it is ultimately worthless.

However, while it might look this way on the surface, even if salt loses its saltiness, it still has a use. Salt has a deadening effect on the ground, and because of this, it is useful for roads and other surfaces where one doesn’t want plants to grow. Even though we have pavement and more modern methods of composing roads to travel on, many northern climates have used salt for years as a way of melting ice and keeping roads safe for travel. Salt has many uses, but when it ceases to be salty, then its usefulness becomes limited. In a similar way, we are to be intentional about how we affect others, and we should intentionally affect others in a positive way.

Jesus’ second illustration illustrates how God chooses to use us when we let Him. Jesus tells the crowd in verses 14 through 16, “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.”

When we let God lead us and when we let Him transform our lives into the people He created us to be, with Jesus’ character and love shining through us, we become the “light of the world”. Jesus doesn’t say that He is the light of the world, even if He was the brightest light the world has ever known spiritually; Jesus says that we are the light of the world. When we let God use us and transform us, Jesus lets us know that we shouldn’t be surprised when God lifts us up for others to see, and we become lights in the world.

If we are interested in hiding God’s blessings, and keeping what He does in our lives secret, then we shouldn’t be surprised if we aren’t blessed in a significant way. If God gives us an amazing gift, or if God transforms us in an amazing way, when we hide what He has done for us, we are placing the light He has given to us under a bowl. We are hiding Jesus when God desires us to glorify Him.

In contrast, when we celebrate what God has done for us, we should give God the glory and credit for everything that has happened. The only credit we should take is for messing up and giving God an opportunity to bless us when we don’t deserve His blessing.

The last verse gives us the practical application of this truth, even if many people living today might try to dismiss it. In verse 16, Jesus tells us to “let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

In this challenge, Jesus calls us to show God’s light in us through our good deeds. We may be accused of doing works, or trying to work our way towards salvation, but this is simply an unconverted lie Satan tries to use to derail us. We obey God because we love Him and because we are thankful for what He has done for us. Thanks is best lived through a life of obedience and gratitude.

When people thank us for our good works, this is an opportunity to continually give God the credit, the glory, and the praise for what He has done for us! We can never come close to out-blessing others when compared with how much God has blessed us. While it sounds like a cliché, we should live our lives filled with an attitude of gratitude and thankfulness! Let’s simply remember that the best way we can thank God is by being a blessing to others.

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always begin every set of challenges by saying, continue intentionally seeking God first in your life. If you haven’t thanked Him lately for all He has done for you, do so today. If you are facing a huge challenge or struggle, or if you feel God hasn’t been kind to you, then know that while I don’t understand your situation, God is more than willing to walk with you through the pain and challenges in your life. God may be blessing you with a testimony you can use to help others facing a similar situation. Too often, we believe that struggles and pain are God’s punishments, when God may simply be giving us a gift we can use to help others in a more meaningful way.

Also, always pray and study the Bible for yourself to grow your personal relationship with God. A personal relationship with God is essential for knowing God’s will for your life, and we should grow our relationship with God on the foundation of prayer and Bible study. Never let someone else’s ideas or opinions get between you and your relationship with God.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or abandon where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!