Jesus said, “I am the way the truth and the life.” And, he got himself in trouble with the religious folks by telling them that before Abraham was, “I AM”, a clear declaration of his oneness with God the father who used that phrase when Moses asked what his name was.
The past few days, I’ve been reading Chapter 5 of Matthew, particularly focusing on the verses that describe Disciples as salt & light.
13″You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.
14″You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
The first thing that stands out to me is the definitiveness of Jesus statement. He doesn’t say, “You might be…” or “You should be…” or “You could be…”. No, he says, “You are…” He says it just as he calls himself “I AM”.
A few things stand out to me about the “You are” statement.
- It’s a statement of fact. It’s just the way it is. We cannot be Jesus’ Disciples without being salt & light. If you think you are a follower of Christ, but see no evidence that you are salt & light, you might want to pray about that.
- “You” is plural. He was talking to a group of disciples. If I were talking to another Christian about being salt & light, it would be inappropriate for me to say to that person “You are the light of the world.” Instead, I should say, “We are the light of the world.” Being a disciple of Jesus is a corporate deal. We are in this relationship with Christ together. We are one. We are salt & light.
- We were redeemed for a purpose, and that purpose has very little (if anything) to do with us. True Disciples of Christ are not to be concerned about themselves. We were saved for “them” – the world. This puts into question the idea that it’s appropriate to come to Christ for our own benefit. Nope, we come to Christ so that (there’s always a “so that”) he can make us salt, so that he can make us light, so that he can make us fishers of men, etc.
I don’t know about you, but knowing that Jesus has already declared me (You Are) salt & light takes the pressure off. And, seeing the evidence that I am doing what salt & light do gives me assurance of my personal salvation.
I’ll be posting more on salt & light in the near future.
*In addition to scripture, I have been studying Dale Bruner’s, Matthew: A Commentary. Volume 1: The Christbook, Matthew 1-12.
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