the similes of salt and light

Today's Reflections

 

the similes of salt and light 

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Mt 5:13-16

[Jesus said to his disciples:] ¹³“You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. ¹⁴You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. ¹⁵Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. ¹⁶Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.”

TO BE SALT OF THE EARTH. Salt is basic to human life. It preserves perishable food and gives it flavor and taste. In ancient times, it was used as payment, exactly as we use today’s salary. In fact, the word “salary” comes from the Latin salarium, which is salt.

Salt was also used to light fire. In Palestine, the common fuel for the oven was not wood, which was scarce, but something more plentiful: camel or donkey dung. Dung patties were gathered in heaps to be used as fuel. A salt plate was then placed at the base of the oven and upon it the salted dung patty. Salt has catalytic properties that cause the dung to burn.

When Jesus says that the disciples are the salt of the earth, “earth” may not primarily refer to the world of humanity, but to the outdoor earthen oven where dried, salted dung patties are used as fuel. But because one and the same word in Aramaic can mean both “earth” and “clay oven,” the metaphor easily opens to other symbolisms.  The disciples are the salt, that is, catalyst for the earth oven.

Salt also symbolizes friendship. To “partake of salt” together is to establish a covenant of friendship, a sacred pact. To break the “covenant of salt” is a great offense.

In our situation, we can say that without the preservative, flavoring, and catalytic ability of the disciples (of any time), the “earth”—the world of men and women—will not be set “on fire.” Life will be tasteless. Thus, the God-given dignity of the disciples is also their responsibility. If, as disciples, we lose our “saltiness,” we are practically useless.