Salt is used here as a metaphor for bringing God to life in our daily journey. Salt is a seasoning. By itself it isn't very good, but add it to foods and other flavors and it enhances the taste. In this scripture, Jesus is telling those gathered for what we call the Sermon on the Mount that they are to be salt for the world. That they will be the salt that brings out God's realm. That because they will add their own unique flavor to the New Heaven on Earth that they are creating, God will be magnified in many different ways.
Jesus goes on to say, "don't hide your light." And Jesus also says that he has come to fulfill the law, to complete it. He never once suggests that the law as given by God to the Hebrew people isn't valid. He says that his message, his purpose in being here, will fulfill that law.
But what does that mean? I think it means that God's sending Jesus to us is a way to connect the dots for us to what it means to be fully human.... what it means to live into our own special seasoning, our own special light, our own special piece of the creation. We are all created in God's image and yet we are all very different.
Jesus says in this passage that diversity is good. That diversity is the key to the Peaceable Kingdom. That diversity is life. Jesus asks us from the very beginning of his preaching ministry to embrace all people and to also embrace exactly who we are. To allow our true selves to be fully displayed as we seek to share God's love with the world. And that when we do that, we will fulfill the law, which upholds love of neighbor above all else.
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