Matthew 5:13-16
Chapter 5
13
Salt and Light. Image of the Disciples: Salt and Light
You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It has become useless. It can only be thrown away, and people will trample on it.14
You are the light of the world. A city built on a mountain cannot be hidden.
15
No one lights a lamp and then covers it; instead, it is placed on a lampstand where it provides light for everyone in the house.
16
In the same way, your light must shine before others so that they may see the good you do and praise your Father in heaven.
Commentaries
Image of the Disciples: Salt and Light.
The brief parables of salt and light conclude the proclamation of the Beatitudes and serve as the introduction to the Sermon on the Mount. Biblical tradition views salt—known for adding flavor and preserving food—as a symbol of wisdom. For Matthew, this wisdom is the Word of God, the Good News, not in the abstract but embodied in the lives of believers: “You are the salt of the earth” (13).
The warning, “if salt loses its flavor,” perhaps resonates more urgently today than at any other point in the history of the Church’s evangelization. Our postmodern world only responds to the impact of witness, and without the witness of a serious and consistent Christian life, the Good News will have lost all its flavor.
Along similar lines, the comparison of Christians to the light of the world highlights the message of Jesus more explicitly than salt does. It emphasizes how this message is reflected in the daily conduct of his followers. St. Paul states: “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light” (Eph 5:8).