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.
[Matthew 5:13]
What does Jesus mean by the metaphor “You are the salt of the earth”? Donald Hagner answers,
Since it is virtually impossible now to know which of [salt's] several associations would have come most readily to the minds of the disciples when they heard these words, it may be best simply to take the metaphor broadly and inclusively as meaning something that is vitally important to the world in a religious sense, as salt was vitally necessary for everyday life…. Thus, the disciples are vitally significant and necessary to the world in their witness to God and his kingdom. (Matthew 1-13, p.99)
So Hagner defines Christian saltiness in the world as our vital and necessary “witness to God and his kingdom.” Now plug that meaning back into the rest of the verse, and feel the weight of responsibility Jesus attaches to such an honored position.
February 3, 2010
What Does Jesus Mean by “Salt of the Earth”?
Posted by Tyler under CommentaryLeave a Comment
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.
[Matthew 5:13]
What does Jesus mean by the metaphor “You are the salt of the earth”? Donald Hagner answers,
Since it is virtually impossible now to know which of [salt's] several associations would have come most readily to the minds of the disciples when they heard these words, it may be best simply to take the metaphor broadly and inclusively as meaning something that is vitally important to the world in a religious sense, as salt was vitally necessary for everyday life…. Thus, the disciples are vitally significant and necessary to the world in their witness to God and his kingdom. (Matthew 1-13, p.99)
So Hagner defines Christian saltiness in the world as our vital and necessary “witness to God and his kingdom.” Now plug that meaning back into the rest of the verse, and feel the weight of responsibility Jesus attaches to such an honored position.