Salt, Light, & Fulfilling the Law

Matthew 5:13–20 NLT

13 “You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. 14 “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. 15 No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father. 17 “Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose. 18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God’s law will disappear until its purpose is achieved. 19 So if you ignore the least commandment and teach others to do the same, you will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But anyone who obeys God’s laws and teaches them will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. 20 “But I warn you—unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven!

Salt and Light

Jesus doesn’t say we should be salt or we should be light. He says that we already ARE. “YOU ARE,” he says.

As followers of Christ we ALREADY are salt and light. The question is, how salty and how light are we…?

What is the purpose of salt?

To flavor food

Adding salt to food enhances its flavor. Many times people on a low sodium diet complain because their food doesn’t have the flavor that it once had. It also amazes me how many desserts call for a little pinch of salt in their recipe. Why? Because the salt brings out the best of the flavors.

When I am cooking and something doesn’t taste right, there’s 2 things I go for… either more butter or more salt. Why? The salt allows the best flavors to come through on the pallet.

2. For Jesus’ day, the purpose of salt was to act as a preservative and slow decay of meat/food.

There was no refrigeration in Jesus’ day. To keep meet from decaying people would salt this. (I am sure most of us know that…)

But, think about it… the world is decaying and Jesus calls us to be an agent that not only flavors the world, but slows down it’s decay!

Salt that has lost its ability to do this is useless! It can’t enhance the flavor of food. It can’t preserve the decaying meat… it is useless. It might look like salt, but in reality it is just a flavorless, useless rock. You might as well pave a road with it!

What is the purpose of light?

So we can see! I am told that we do not see because our eyes see the object. We see because light reflects off the object in front of us. Our eyes are seeing the reflection of the light...

This is why when we are in a dark area with no light (pitch black we call it) we cannot see. Because there is no light to reflect off the objects.

And, in dark, dark situations a little bit of light goes a LONG WAY!

In Jesus’ day, the lamps people would use were tiny. They would be lit and placed high in the house so that the little light could illuminate as much as possible.

It would be a waste of resources - oil, wick - to light a lamp and cover it.

But, it is amazing how in the midst of darkness that little light could illuminate much.

There seems to be a message to Jesus’ followers that although they might think their light is small, when it is put on display it does A LOT...

We must remember that Jesus challenges us to be salt and light in ways that cause “Good deeds...”

Jesus is NOT encouraging separation from the world.

There were communities who wanted to be salt and light but they separated themselves from the rest of the world to do so.

The Qumran community of the Dead Sea scrolls is an example

They lived in the saltiest place on earth

They believed by their separateness they would flavor the world and arrest its decay as people would join them and be a part of their ideas.

The monastic communities often felt the same way

They separated so they could ponder God’s word and decrees in a way that they weren’t affected by the decay of the world.

A couple of weeks ago I was having a conversation with someone. We were discussing Jesus and the hope of His return. This person said something like, “I can see why the monastics would go off by themselves and separate themselves from the world. That way they can focus on Jesus and His teaching. But yet, at the same time, in their separating they are forgetting the call to be salt and light IN THE WORLD!”

Jesus says that as we are salt and light it leads to doing good deeds and bringing glory to God...

It is NOT a call for separateness. This is a reminder that salt must be applied to the meat to arrest its decay and enhance its flavors.

Light must be placed high, but also NEAR the object so that it can highlight that object. Light illuminates what is in front of it and it guides, protects, gives warmth and comfort.

It is NO DIFFERENT for us and our world… we must be in carne (in the meat) as salt and close to the world to illuminate the dangers, traps ahead. But also in a way that provides comfort, warmth, and protection.

We are NOT salt and light unless being salt and light leads to good deeds… Which leads to God being praised.

James 2:14 NLT

14 What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone?

James 2:17 NLT

17 So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.

Although our faith is PERSONAL, it is NEVER PRIVATE!

What does this have to do with fulfilling the Law?

Israel was chosen by God to be salt and light.

The purpose of the Law was to be able to work in them and teach them how to be salt and light in their world.

Exodus 19:5–6 NLT

5 Now if you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own special treasure from among all the peoples on earth; for all the earth belongs to me. 6 And you will be my kingdom of priests, my holy nation.’ This is the message you must give to the people of Israel.”

The WHOLE NATION was to be a nation that served as a priest to the world - mediating God and God’s goodness to the world...

But Israel Failed

Instead of arresting the decay of the world and illuminating the world with God goodness, Israel became decayed by the world and darkened by the worlds darkness.

What is God supposed to do when His preserving and illuminating agent has gone bad and stopped preserving and illuminating?

Well, although God COULD through Israel out, God promised to never do that. So, God send Jesus the PERFECT representation of Israel and for Israel to be the true salt and light and to work through His followers so they can excel where Israel failed.

N.T. Wright in Matthew for Everyone (41) states, “He [Jesus] was the salt of the earth. He was the light of the world: set up on a hill-top, crucified for all the world to see, becoming a beacon of hope and new life for everybody, drawing people to worship his father, embodying the way of self-giving love which is the deepest fulfillment of the law and the prophets.”

So God sends Jesus to be True Israel - to fulfill what Israel was supposed to fulfill. Therefore Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law as he perfectly lived out salt and light in self emptying ways.

Jesus summarizes the purpose of the Law later in the sermon...

Matthew 7:12 NLT

12 “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.

Matthew 22:36–40 NLT

36 “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” 37 Jesus replied, “ ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

As the perfect embodiment of Love Jesus fulfills the Law and commands us to do the same....

John 13:34 NLT

34 So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.

The purpose of the Law was/is to point to Jesus

But, there is more than the legal ramifications of fulfilling the Law. Yes, Jesus fulfills ALL the legal and sacrificial aspects of the Law, but he is also the fulfillment of the Law because the purpose of the Law was to point to The One who was greater than the Law. The purpose of the Law was to point to Jesus.

In the book Reading Moses Seeing Jesus: How the Torah Fulfills Its Goal in Yeshua the authors state that the point of the Torah was not to make Israel more ethical. It was to highlight how they, like Adam and Eve (who they believe that story is told to highlight how Israel, and all of us disobey) disobey God’s commands. God gave them a land, commands, and told them to take care to obey it and to take care of the land. Israel, like Adam, failed and they were exiled from the land, like Adam. The point of the Law, then, was NOT to provide ethical standards whereby Israel wouldn’t fail God.

In fact, it was predicted in the Law that Israel WOULD FAIL...

Therefore, the purpose of the Law was to direct people to Jesus, the Messiah who would come and fulfill it as the Perfect Israelite - the Perfect Adam...

This is, in fact, what Jesus himself says...

John 5:46 NLT

46 If you really believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about me.

Jesus fulfills the Law because the purpose of the Law was to point people to Jesus!

This is what Paul tells us...

Romans 7:7 NLT

7 Well then, am I suggesting that the law of God is sinful? Of course not! In fact, it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “You must not covet.”

Paul states that the purpose of the Law was not to make us better, but to remind us how messed up we are and to SHOW us our need and dependency upon THE ONE who would come and fulfill it for us.

This is what the Pharisees could not see

The Pharisees were SALTY. They were abrasive and had no problem illuminating the the faults of others.

They had all 614 laws memorized and the Oral Tradition (which was a HUMAN addition to the Law) worked out. They lived their lives believing that they were righteous as they fulfilled God’s Laws to the LETTER.

And Jesus says we cannot be a part of the Kingdom of God unless our righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees...

Think of the MOST Righteous person you know...

Someone who obeys God’s word PERFECTLY

Billy Graham, Mother Theresa, etc...

Jesus is saying that you must be more righteous than them!

Who can do that?

Psalm 24:3–6 NLT

3 Who may climb the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? 4 Only those whose hands and hearts are pure, who do not worship idols and never tell lies. 5 They will receive the Lord’s blessing and have a right relationship with God their savior. 6 Such people may seek you and worship in your presence, O God of Jacob. Interlude

So… who can do that?

WHAT! ARE YOU KIDDING ME!! There’s no way someone can be more righteous than the pharisees or those people. They are so morally pure and upright. It is IMPOSSIBLE for someone to do that!

The only way someone could do that would be by some miraculous act of God...

EXACTLY that is the point! The Pharisees were righteous by THEIR OWN ACTIONS! Jesus says that our righteousness must surpass that of the Pharisees, NOT IN ACTIONS, but IN KIND! It is a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT KIND OF RIGHTEOUSNESS!

The Righteousness Jesus calls us to exhibit is on that is NOT dependent upon self, but upon Jesus - WHO HAS ALREADY FULFILLED God’s requirements and who works in us and through us so that we too can fulfil God’s requirements!!!

The only people who can do this are people who are born again with a new heart and a new mind.

Ezekiel 36:25–26 NLT

25 “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.

Jeremiah 31:31–33 NLT

31 “The day is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. 32 This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves his wife,” says the Lord. 33 “But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,” says the Lord. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

The Righteousness discussed here is an inward heart Righteousness of mind and motive. The only people who can do this are the ones who have a new heart... or in Jesus' words, who are born again.

By an act of God through Jesus Christ - the one who in himself fulfills all God's requirements...

Idea of Messiah as place holder

What's true of Messiah is true of those Messiah represents...

Messiah fulfills the law, so as Messiah represents us (as we are IN THE MESSIAH) and as His Spirit works in us… we already fulfill the law AND are made able to continue to fulfill the law.

It is Messiah IN us and THROUGH us that allows us to fulfill the Law as Salt and Light

We cannot fulfill this on our own… We need Jesus, Messiah, who fulfills this to be in us and working through us to fulfill the requirements of the Law.

The question and challenge before us is NOT are we salt and light. The question is how salty and how luminous is our light?

Do we flavor the world, arrest its decay and illuminate a better way for it to go… or are we overtaken by the decay of the world and darkened by its darkness?

John Stott in Reading the Sermon on the Mount with John Stott (33) reminds us followers of Jesus that the world is like a piece of meat. Meat WILL decay and rot without something preserving it.

Our world has definitely decayed… but, whose fault is that? The worlds? or ours who are to be salt?

Stott states,… “When society does go bad, we Christians tend to throw up our hands and blame the evilness of our culture. But we can hardly blame unsalted meat for going bad; it can’t do anything else. The real question is, where is the salt?”

“God intends us to penetrate the world. Christian salt has no business to remain safe and sound inside churchy little salt shakers. Instead we are to be rubbed into the secular world around us to stop it from going bad. When society does go bad, we Christians tend to throw up our hands and blame the evilness of our culture. But we can hardly blame unsalted meat for going bad; it can’t do anything else. The real question is, where is the salt?”

It is ONLY through Jesus, the fulfillment of the Law, that we can be born again as salty salt and bright light in and for our world. Thus, through Jesus, we fulfill the Law!

Therefore, where does OUR world need YOU to be salt and light?

Not just in what you say, or how you think. But, most importantly, in what you DO to flavor the world, arrest its decay, and highlight a different way of living and being.

And, in doing this, as Jesus Messiah works in YOU and through YOU, you fulfill the Law!