Page 16 - September 2023 - Truth & Tidings

he Lord Jesus unfolded these two Jesus are evidently very different. Salt is
metaphors in His discourse on that which preserves; light is that which
Tthe kingdom in Matthew 5-7. In is seen and which shines forth. It speaks
His teaching, He revealed the spiritual in principle of that which makes God
character and the characteristics of His known. Salt acts in a private way and in a
kingdom and set forth its elevated nature sphere which may not be noticed; light is
to His disciples. set forth and seen in a more public setting.
The Lord commenced this teaching with These speak of the two spheres of every
special reference to the spiritual favour believer’s life. We have responsibilities in
that God has bestowed on His own; the our private lives and our public relation-
beatitudes set forth these blessings in all of ships to represent God before men.
their bounty and fulness. It has been noted The Details of the Metaphors
that in the structure of the nine beatitudes, The Lord’s words are very clear: we
the first four stress our relationship with are not like salt and light – we are salt and
God. The Lord Jesus describes the poor in light! What is being stressed are the facts;
spirit, the mournful, the meek, and those the Lord is making a statement about His
who hunger and thirst after righteousness. own and what they are in their character.
The emphasis is placed on our relation- Then Christ presents a contrast. Salt is an
ship with Him. The conclusion of the be- agent that is a preservative; it is the enemy
atitudes focuses on our relationship with of decay. It is contrasted with the earth
the world. We see its hatred and animosity which is corrupt. The fact that we are the
toward those who follow Christ and are light of the world suggests that the world
part of His kingdom. The Lord intimated, is in darkness. We have been left in a world
first to His own and then by extension to marked by moral decay and degenerate
us, what we should expect from the world. darkness. We are expected to have an
It is in this context, where the disciples’ arresting influence and an illuminating
relationship to the King, His kingdom impact for our Lord.
and then the world are introduced, that The Development of the Metaphors
these two aspects and metaphors are The development of these metaphors
highlighted. is seen in the Old Testament. The second
The Difference in the Metaphors time salt is mentioned in the Scriptures is
The two metaphors used by the Lord in Genesis 19:26: Lot’s wife became a pil-

272 TRUTH kTidings September 2023