Writing for a mostly Jewish Christian community, the author of Matthew goes to great lengths to present Jesus as a new Moses and teacher, one who teaches with great authority. In todays Gospel (Matthew 5:13-16) we get a small sampling of this teaching from the First Major Discourse of Matthew, the Sermon on the Mount.

In the opening verse of this chapter we are told: “When he saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him” (Mt. 5:1). More than followers, the disciples of Jesus are students engaged in learning his ministry so that they can continue after his resurrection and ascension.  

This passage encompasses one of their most basic instructions. It is one on which every other will build – they are to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. In the days of Jesus, salt was used as a preservative and purifying agent. As such the disciples are to be spiritually pure in order to effectively preserve and spread the teachings of Jesus.

Jesus also instructs them that they are to be a light to the world. They must shine their light before others so that the good deeds they do in his name will be a beacon of the glory of God for those who witness them (Mt. 5:16).

The First Reading for today from the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 58:7-10) offers a hint of the meaning of the similes of salt and light and the deeds that they represent. They are “sharing your bread with the hungry, bringing the afflicted and the homeless into your house, and clothing the naked when you see them” (Isa. 58:7).

Several chapters later in the Gospel of Matthew Jesus will reiterate this teaching in his Fifth Major Discourse, The Sermon on the Last Things. It will come across more as a threat to the followers of Jesus and serve as a warning to Christian disciples who still read it today.

When the time comes for the return of Jesus and the final judgment, the separation of the sheep and the goats (Matthew 25:31-46), the righteous and unrighteous will be judged according to their observance of the deeds represented by the similes of the salt and the light: feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, and welcoming the stranger (Mt. 25:35-36).

 Jesus insists, “‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me’” (Mt. 25:45). If we, like the disciples, fail in these tasks we will be as useless as salt which loses its taste, or a lamp placed under a basket. Good for nothing “but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot” (Mt. 5:13).

So let your light shine before others so that they may see the glory of God…