Matthew 5:13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.”
In some ways, this verse and verse 14 after it are the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount. Verses 3-12, the beatitudes are very much the text of Jesus’ sermon, the truth that He will unfold. These two verses almost serve as the introduction to the sermon. The Sermon on the Mount has been called the “constitution” of the Kingdom of God. I believe it to be the language of God and Jesus’ expression of the King, the kingdom and its citizens. For the purposes of our study I want us to see the entire sermon in three pieces today, the beatitudes are the text of the sermon, God’s revelation of the identity of all those who will dwell in His kingdom. The Kingdom of God is filled with those who are poor in spirit or broken, the mourning, the meek, the hungry and thirsty for righteousness, the mercy-filled and the merciful, the pure in heart, those who make peace and those who are persecuted for the same righteousness they hunger for. The beauty of God’s kingdom is that those same people we just described are also the inheritors of the kingdom, the comforted, the influencers of the earth, the content and satisfied, the possessors of mercy, those who see God, those called God’s children and those who have been given His kingdom. The beatitudes reveal the identity of those who dwell in God’s kingdom, verses 13 and 14 reveal the purpose of those who live in God’s kingdom, to be salt and light in the world. At the time that Jesus was speaking, both salt and light were indispensable household products that everyone would have a need for and would have in their possession. Salvation has a purpose beyond being saved, stopping at our home in heaven is like training for a marathon and never running the race, you have not accomplished your purpose. During these next two weeks we will study the distinct purposes of both salt and light, they are not interchangeable as we have often taught them, they are separate components that work together for one outcome. The rest of the sermon beyond verse 14 will reveal how our identity as citizens of God’s kingdom and our purpose as salt and light in the world function to bring glory to God and increase to His kingdom. Today we will start with slat and focus on three questions: 1) Who is the salt of the earth? 2) Why salt? 3) How does salt lose its flavor?