Journey Through Matthew – Jesus Teaches
Mar 30 in General
Matthew guides us further into Jesus’ ‘sermon on the mount’ by talking of salt and light.
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Jesus words about salt are something of a warning – was Matthew deliberately making a reference to a people who had lost their proper understanding of what God was asking of them – a people who had lost their ‘saltiness’?
Perhaps – but the second part of our Bible reading is more complimentary. ‘You are the light of the world’ it says. Jesus is encouraging us to recognise how special we are, and to appreciate what we can offer in a world where there are precious few ‘good works’.
What is Matthew telling us about Jesus?
These words are an introduction to quite a long series of topics. In chapter 5 Matthew is showing us a Jesus who is an arresting teacher.
A Jesus who has a very deep understanding of how the laws given to Moses need to be understood. A Jesus who is very concerned to guide the understanding of his listeners.
What is Matthew saying about us?
And Jesus is telling us that we can be confident in the way that we live out the lives that God wants us to live. That is why he starts of in such a positive way by saying that we are light. He gives us some practical examples of what salt and light meant in the context of the Laws of the Old Testament. Look at the rest of chapter 5 to read about anger, adultery, retaliation and more. The chapter ends with Jesus’ remarkable commandment to love our enemies.
An extra bit
Read through all of Matthew chapter 5.