What Will Happen When Jesus Comes Again
Question
What did Jesus mean when He described His followers as the salt of the earth?
Answer
Jesus described His followers as the salt of the globe in Matthew v as part of His Sermon on the Mount: "You are the salt of the globe. Only if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty once more? It is no longer good for annihilation, except to exist thrown out and trampled underfoot" (poesy 13).
In that location were two purposes for salt in the first century—preserving nutrient and enhancing flavor. Both of those purposes may employ here, or Jesus may accept been speaking in a more general sense.
By using this salt metaphor, Jesus may accept meant that His disciples are called to exist "preservatives" in the globe, slowing downward the advancement of moral and spiritual decay. Psalm fourteen:three says, "All have turned away, all have go corrupt; in that location is no one who does adept, not even one." Believers are to preserve truth and goodness in a fallen world.
Salt was also used as a flavor enhancer. Jesus may have been instructing His disciples to "heighten" the flavor of life in this world—enriching its goodness and making God'due south piece of work stand out from the normal way of doing things. "Just love your enemies, benefit to them, and lend to them without expecting to become anything back. Then your reward volition be corking, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked" (Luke 6:35). As believers bear in ways that reflect God's nature, they accentuate the deviation that Jesus makes in one'southward life.
Since Jesus' exact meaning is not specified, mayhap He was non pointing to one specific application, simply to salt in a general sense of value and usefulness. In those days, common salt was a valuable commodity (the word salary comes from an ancient word meaning "salt-coin"). Mayhap Jesus was telling His disciples how of import their ministry would be.
Of course, the value of salt lies in its consequence on its surroundings. Salt makes an touch on. After telling His disciples that they are the salt of the globe, Jesus goes on to say, "But if the salt loses its saltiness, how tin it exist made salty once more? Information technology is no longer adept for annihilation, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot." Tin can salt become less salty? Strictly speaking, no. Sodium chloride is a stable compound and can't get less of itself. What was Jesus proverb then? There are several possibilities:
1) Jesus may have been referring to the "salt" that was collected from the Dead Sea past evaporation. The substance resembled pure salt, but it wasn't constructive for preservation or for seasoning.
two) Jesus could have been referring to the stone formations in which people would store their meat. Once the salt leached out of the rocks, the rocks were no longer constructive to preserve the meat.
iii) Others take speculated that Jesus was referring to the salt blocks that bakers used in their ovens. Eventually the heat would make these table salt blocks useless.
4) Yet others think Jesus was referring to a maxim of the time: "Tin salt lose its saltiness?" It's a rhetorical question because salt can't go less salty. True disciples of Jesus cannot lose their saltiness. They are new creations and completely changed. Someone who is an imposter cannot become salty once more. The imposters are to exist "thrown out and trampled underfoot" because they take no effectiveness.
How does Jesus' argument about the table salt of the globe utilize to united states of america today?
Matthew 5:13 tells u.s. that we are valuable in our part as disciples of Christ. God uses us to impact the people effectually us. Whether nosotros are slowing down the moral decay or enhancing the spiritual "flavor" of the world, God has created us to be a positive touch on. As followers of Christ, we are called to be unlike and to live righteous lives.
Questions almost Matthew
What did Jesus mean when He described His followers every bit the salt of the earth?
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This page last updated: January 4, 2022
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