KEEP YOUR SALT FRESH

This weekend we are encouraged to examine our attitude towards the Word of God. In other words the Bible. In this regard I’d like to draw your attention to a particular metaphor Jesus uses in today’s gospel, Matthew 15: 13. 

Metaphors can be tricky at times. If I were to say: “Bob Kennedy is the salt of the earth,” you’d probably take me to mean: “Bob is a great bloke.” An English Language Dictionary on the other hand might define the phrase as meaning: “Perfect, one of the Elect, the worthiest and most honest of all human beings”. The Dictionary might even quote Matthew 5:13 where Jesus  told his disciples: “You are the salt of the earth.”

Matthew inserts Jesus’s metaphor straight after the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus had just described those who would be the Blessed/Happy in his  Kingdom of the Spirit. They were the poor in spirit, the  gentle, those who mourned, those who hungered for what is right, who thirsted  for God’s merciful love and those who were peacemakers. Each one of these Beatitudes could be the subject of a sermon in itself!

Jesus knew as he enunciated  these virtues he would  face the opposition of those whose

vested interests he threatened. What he proposed flew in the face of what the Jewish elite sought - power, possessions, prestige.  Jesus’s way of life would lead to the cross (but also to his resurrection). He asks his followers not to be deterred by prosecution. They have a mission. After He has gone they will be like salt affecting the whole of mankind. 

You see this is where metaphors can be tricky. Anyone of us who has tried to be a gardener knows that salt is the last chemical compound we want in the soil.

The Greek word ‘ge’ used by Matthew occurs 250  times in the New Testament. Depending on the context it can mean; earth, soil, ground, land, region and humankind (i.e. All those who live on Earth). Because of the incompatibility between salt and soil , Jesus is not referring to agriculture. He wants us to concentrate on two uses of common domestic salt, which we practice every day. It can be a preservative and a taste enhancer. 

The disciples will be like salt when they preserve the teachings of Jesus, the Word made Flesh. Before refrigeration housewives would protect fish and meat against decay by smothering them with salt, hence we still have kippers and bacon today. We try on a daily basis to keep the teachings of Jesus fresh in our consciousness.

 The way we adhere to those teachings in our daily lives will act as a condiment that will make them tasty/attractive as a way of life to all those with whom we mix on any given day.

                                               We can make Jesus’s life attractive to the whole world.                                                              

How does my saltiness measure up?