Salt and Light – Part 2 (Matt 5:13)

5 Sep 201411 Aug 2015 / timmacbride

Yesterday we read Matt 5:13-16 and spent some time reflecting on how well we’re being salt and light: and what we might need to change about our lives, to better reflect God to the world. But there is one part of this passage that we haven’t dealt with properly: verse 13. Let’s take another look:

5:13 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.

Don’t you think that it’s a bit jarring? A bit out of place? I mean, the whole opening has been about good news: Rejoice! The kingdom of God’s at hand! And it’s your job, as the people of the kingdom, to live out kingdom values. Be salt and light! These are all positive messages. Then Jesus goes off on a bit of a tangent just for a second: this bit about salt losing its saltiness, and some kind of ominous warning about being trampled. Then he gets back on with the positive stuff again. What’s going on here?

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Salt and Light – Part 1 (Matt 5:13-16)

4 Sep 201411 Aug 2015 / timmacbride

Jesus tells us in the Sermon on the Mount that we, his followers, are salt and light. That’s supposed to be good, right? But if you’ve ever had a bright light shone in your eyes, or been forced to eat a salt sandwich at a youth group camp, you’ll know that salt and light aren’t always good things. And when we try to be salt and light, how often is that the result! We get in peoples faces, and leave a bad taste in their mouth. Is that what Jesus meant when he said that we are the salt of the earth, and the light of the world? What does it mean, exactly, to be salt and light?

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The Beatitudes – Part 2 (Matt 5:10-12)

3 Sep 201411 Aug 2015 / timmacbride

See part one yesterday.

Yesterday, we saw how the Beatitudes are essentially an announcement of good news for those in Israel who have been waiting for God to act. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” Today, we look at the final two Beatitudes, which stand out from the rest. Given the good news of the first seven, these next two seem a little surprising:

5:10-12 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

While Jesus’ audience would have agreed that being comforted, inheriting the earth, and being shown mercy were blessings, I wonder how they would have taken his statement that being persecuted was a blessing?

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Exegetical extras: the SuperJesus

2 Sep 20142 Sep 2014 / timmacbride

Exegetical extras are interesting facts about or alternative interpretations of a particular Scripture passage. They’re here for interest value or to stretch our thinking… Exegetical extras will be posted whenever I come across something interesting.

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Introducing the Beatitudes (Matt 5:1-9)

2 Sep 201411 Aug 2015 / timmacbride

See yesterday’s notes for an introduction to the Sermon on the Mount.

The Sermon on the Mount begins with what have traditionally been called the Beatitudes: nine statements in the form of blessings. (Have a quick read of them now.) Traditionally, these Beatitudes have been read as though their primary purpose were to tell us how we should live as followers of Jesus. One often-quoted line is this: ‘the Be-atitudes are the attitudes we should be’. (Clearly, ‘blessed are the grammatically correct’ is not one of them.)

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Introducing the Sermon on the Mount

1 Sep 201411 Aug 2015 / timmacbride

See “about this site” for how to use these daily bible notes. If you like it, please help to spread the word on Facebook!

Over the next two weeks we’ll be looking at part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. It’s a famous part of the Bible, well-known even among people who aren’t churchgoers. And it’s a very significant part of the Bible because it’s full of radical, confronting statements. These statements are designed to shock us; to turn our previously-accepted understandings upside-down. Jesus tells us that anger is as sinful as murder, that a lustful look is as bad as committing adultery, and that the standard which God requires is nothing less than perfection.