Matthew 5:11-13 English Standard Version

11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.

At the end of the blessings from the sermon on the mount, Jesus continues speaking to those that are blessed by telling them to rejoice. Then he continues on to address everyone.

When He says “You are the salt of the earth, He is addressing both those who are blessed and those who are not. He addresses first a good quality of salt, making foods tasty. Then He addresses the issue of salt that is used in a manner that is not a blessing.

What happens when salt is thrown down and trampled under foot? It kills vegetation so that nothing grows. Whole regions have been salted rendering the land unfit for farming. The Dead Sea is so salty life does not exist there.

Genesis 19:26 But Lot’s wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

Our blood needs a low percentage of salt to operate properly. Too much salt is lethal. When we sweat our electrolytes we are out of balance and we need to restore balance by drinking electrolytes.

Jesus asked, how can saltiness be restored?

1 Peter 5:10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

Just as our bodies suffer from loss of salt, Christ Himself will restore us. In that moment He will confirm, strengthen, and establish us. In doing that the likelihood of losing our saltiness again is lessened. Just as when our electrolytes are out of balance we will know the signs to treat the imbalance by returning to the source of our balance.

“When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom. The integrity of the upright guides them,” Ref. Proverbs 11

Integrity is our guide.

John 15:5,8 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

I have been trying to walk in The Way for decades. There are so many opinions about the bible and how important it is to understand God’s promises and see how they direct our path through this life we live by faith.

This morning I had one of those moments between me and my God. It is a new way of thinking for me, but I don’t know if anyone else has ever had this thought. I am not even sure God wants me to share it with anyone else. Walking by faith is much like that, taking a step and not knowing what will become of it.

In Genesis God told Adam not to eat the fruit of one tree while all the others were free to eat.

In Exodus God gave Moses the ten commandments.

In Dueternonmy Moses delivered 613 laws.

In the portion of Kedoshim, we read the words, Betzedek tishpot amitecha, “You shall judge your fellow with righteousness.” Rashi, the foremost Biblical commentator, first provides the simple analysis, which is that judges must rule righteously, without being swayed by any other considerations. In fact, the full title of a beth din, a Jewish court, is not only beth din, a “house of law,” but beth din tzedek, a “house of just law.” The law must be just, fair, and objective—otherwise the court itself is not doing justice. But then Rashi adds a second interpretation, relevant not only for the judiciary but for all of us. “Another explanation is: Judge your fellow favorably” (i.e., give the benefit of the doubt). Source chabad.org

Because many Jewish leaders found it difficult to put others to death as commanded they found a way to judge others without pronouncing a death sentence. No one had ever kept all the laws perfectly, not with 1, not with 10 and surely not with 613 laws to understand and keep.

Then Jesus Christ came and kept all the law perfectly and for that they sought to kill Him.

This is why. They could not accept that Jesus was both fully man and fully God.

Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”

They couldn’t live with anyone doing what they could not. They sought to expose Him. If they could kill Him, it would prove He was not God incarnate. They only proved He is.