My assignment is to say a bit about salt as it is presented in our three passages. When I grew up in South Florida, people were known as salts or crackers. My father (and thus his family) was a salt, because he made his living from the sea. Apropos You see the three passages listed here. Only the passage from Mark is in the lectionary Proper 21-B Pentecost 26-B Before we begin analyzing the verses themselves, a bit of modern context is needed We all recognize the advertising which comes with the table product its been around longer than any of us My 16-year-old son knows all about the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah land speed records are set there And just to make Alena feel at home a picture of The Great Salt Lake area also in Utah We didn t have these in Florida or in New Mexico Salt domes in Louisiana to hold National Petroleum Reserve (not pictured Salt was the most commonly used seasoning in antiquity Food, especially meat, was preserved with salt Surprisingly, it was used to fertilize crops Cakes of salt were used to line the bottom of ovens by Arabs and we can presume that the Israelites did the same Ex 30:35 says incense was seasoned with salt And Lev 2:13 tells us that all sacrifices were seasoned with salt And we find evidence that salt was emblematic of covenant making in Num 18:19 All of these things are pretty positive Salt can also have a negative connotations Deut 29:23 says about the land of a person who rejects the Lord God of Israel, The whole land will be covered with brimstone, salt, and burning debris; it will not be planted nor will it sprout or produce grass. Salt was also associated with a land gone to waste. This is natural for a people who lived near the Dead or Salt Sea. The rich mineral deposits do not allow for much life along the sea bed. And finally, salt was a symbol of military conquest. Judges 9:45 tells us that Abimelech razed [Shechem] and sowed it with salt. - 1 -
xx As an aside, there was a place known as the City of Salt in ancient times assigned to Judah We know it today as Khirbet Qumran Ironic that this place preserved valuable ancient texts for us The following passages would have been well-known in Jesus time here are some English-language translations of the LXX Gen 19:26 And his wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt. the famous line that announced the demise of Lot s wife. Lev 2:13 And every gift of your sacrifice shall be seasoned with salt; omit not the salt of the covenant of the Lord from your sacrifices: on every gift of yours you shall offer salt to the Lord your God. Religious leaders in the 1 st century would have known this one for sure. Irony: the man who uttered the saying(s) about salt would be the ultimate sacrifice himself. Eze 43:23-24 And after they have finished the atonement, they shall bring an unblemished calf of the herd, and an unblemished ram of the flock. And you shall offer them before the Lord, and the priests shall sprinkle salt upon them, and shall offer them up as whole-burnt-offerings to the Lord. Job 6:6 Shall bread be eaten without salt? or again, is there taste in empty words? All of these things can be projected into Jesus words in our three passages intent is uncertain, but the echoes of these passages for the situations is pregnant. Finally, here are the verses under consideration: (handouts) Mt 5:13 You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its flavor, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled on by people. Mk 9:49-50 Everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other. Lk 14:34-35 Salt is good, but if salt loses its flavor, how can its flavor be restored? It is of no value for the soil or for the manure pile; it is to be thrown out. The one who has ears to hear had better listen! Are these parables as we understand the definition? (No) Are there any thoughts as to why the Matthew and Luke texts are not in the lectionary? (Judgment) - 2 -
Salt () is the word used for mineral in all three verses Mark seems to be concerned with salt losing its saltiness and uses the word Matthew and John use the word to describe salt that loses its flavor o This greek word can be translated as be dumb o From this term we get the word moron Is Jesus concerned here that His disciples might become dumb/ useless/flavorless? By pure accident, I found this on the internet When it rains, it doesn t pour The chemists and scientists among us know that sodium chloride remains sodium chloride. As long as the stuff is salt, it will taste like salt. With this central truth known by people now and then, why did Jesus ask his question as recorded by both Matthew and Luke and posed by Mark? Is it possible that Jesus asks this question to make a point of the impossible much like he does when uses the idea of a camel passing through the eye of a needle? Was salt a good thing at first and is the goodness being lost and restored, or is the negative aspect of salt being lost? Big question: Who might be the salt in these miniparables (Capron)? - 3 -
The you are the salt of the earth statement follows immediately on the heels of the beatitudes in Matthew. And the verse which reads, You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill cannot be hidden follows. These two salt and light statements are implied imperatives they are given without justification (why?) or interpretation (how?) This passage seems to say that we are indeed salt/light, but for the world full of people, not for yourselves or a closed fellowship. Notice that the you s (pl.) are corporate but salt and light are singular. The community as a whole is being called to a single corporate mission. As one, we are called to work together. Dead Sea Picture Slide The term salt of the earth is all to familiar to us today. We use it to speak of those who are especially good. We have a hard time appreciating how strange this must have sounded to the original hearers. Perhaps we could alter the force of the saying for our audiences by saying you are the red hot peppers of the earth. Except things like chili aren t exactly necessary to sustain life at least in Pennsylvania. Matthew uses stark imagery. Salt seasons and preserves, but in significant quantity, it is not nourishing, pleasant, or even edible. Could it be that Jesus is telling the crowds that the gospel will not be very appealing to the world if preached in too heavy a dose? Is this recognized and intended? It s important to note that Jesus does not advocate any sugary substitutes for the salt we are implored to be. In Capron s words, Jesus disciples must become losers in the world if they are to ultimately win. On the other hand, if a disciple, or if the church, forgets that only losing wins and instead become a group of winners drowning in its own sugary syrup the sad admonishment available in this saying is that once lost, the saltiness necessary of a disciple or the church cannot be regained. Do we preach this message often enough? Should we preach this? - 4 -
Preceded by the Parable of the Tower and the King Preparing for War. Message of preparation. Followed by the Parable of the Lost Sheep Again, not a parable, but parabolic in meaning. The message is quite similar to Matthew s rendition Again, the absurditiy of salt losing its taste is in the forefront akin to a mule bearing a foal (all mules are male) Salt (a fertilizer) no longer fit for even the manure pile harkens back to Tim s presentation on the fig tree in Luke 13 who was the manure in that passage, who is the manure now? The parting words, The one who has ears to hear had better listen! are an interesting addition. These words also appear in 8:8 following the parable of the sower. The words emphasize the gravity of the teaching and demand right hearing. Jesus is stamping this teaching as urgent, and He calls His audience to respond. Mark s use of the salt sayings has a different slant how appropriate given the personality of your presenter today The saying is preceded by John the disciple finding one outside the inner circle casting out demons in Jesus name. Jesus instructs the disciples not to stop the person for, whoever is not against us is for us. Note the corporate nature of this saying. Jesus goes on to say that it would be better to have a millstone around your neck and be thrown into the sea than to put a stumbling block before a little one. And then He says that it is better to remove a foot, hand or eye that causes you to sin to avoid the fires of hell. Then we hear the two salt verses. And then Mark has Jesus crossing the Jordan and teaching about divorce. The saying, Everyone will be salted with fire is unique to Mark s gospel as it relates to salt. This probably is based on the purifying capacity of salt and its use in Temple sacrifices (Lev 2:13b). Two other versions of this saying exist, For every sacrifice will be salted with fire; and For everyone will be salted with fire, and every sacrifice will be salted with salt. The original saying may be tied to the saying, He will baptize you with the spirit/wind and fire. in Matt 3:11 and Luke 3:16. The second of Mark s three brief salt sayings is much like we found in Matthew and Luke. The third saying, Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other is quite different from what we have seen so far. It alludes again to Lev 2:13a. Mark s interpretation of the salt saying emphasizes hospitality and peace among Jesus disciples rather than judgement (as seen in Matthew and Luke). This is particularly jarring given the surrounding texts in Mark s gospel. This is also opposite of our expectations of the three synoptic gospel authors. - 5 -
Which of these three lessons would you preach? Why? Would you take the occasion of Mark s gospel on Pentecost 26-B to meld the three lessons or should Mark s distinctively different message be held apart from the others? Is it possible to preach judgment, hospitality, and peace in a single coherent presentation of the gospel? - 6 -