Sermon on the Mount #10- Does the World Really Praise You If You Live as the Salt and Light?
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. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that[b] they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. -Matthew 5:13-16
Needless to say more, today’s text sounds like an encouragement for a holy life of a saint, doesn’t it? ‘You will be trampled under people’s feet if you do not live as the salt, and therefore, saints must live as the salt in this world. Also, who would put a light under a basket? The light is put on a stand and shines at its surroundings. Thus, stay high on a stand and diligently shine upon the world.’- isn’t this what it’s about? Most theologians and preachers interpret the story of salt and light like what I just said, focusing on what saints must do to influence the world. ‘Salt has a salty flavor and therefore the saints must live seasoning the world; salt preserves so live as a preservative in this world, preventing it from spoiling; salt does its work by melting so you must sacrifice yourself.’ They give these kinds of lessons. Aren’t these what you have learned? Along with this, they cry out ‘saints must positively influence the world and chase out the darkness of the world since the light has the power to chase out the darkness of the whole world. It can be interpreted this way if we cut out the Beatitudes we have learned so far.
But, you must remember that this is connected to the Beatitudes. Is the world positively influenced for real if the saints live as the salt and light of the world? Does the world really get influenced and change if the saints live the life of the salt and light? If so, it will collide with the verses right above today’s text, which we have studied last week.
Jesus is clearly saying that the saints will surely be persecuted by the world for righteousness’ sake. He has said the saints who believe and preach the righteousness of Jesus Christ will receive persecution from the world, rather than being able to positively influence the world. This means the world will not be affected by the lives of the saints. It will rather persecute them and will not be influenced by them. That means it will not consider them righteous. Do you think that Jesus would say this and then right after say you should influence the world by living as the salt and light?
Many Bible commentators misunderstand this part as a lesson for a holy life because of verse 16. If you look at verse 16, it says ‘they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven’. Good works. It is interpreted as ‘salt and light are good works and such good works have power to give glory to God’. On the surface, it looks like this. Here, the salt and light are good works alright. But they are missing the point that good works here are very far from being moral, ethical, and conscientious good works which Adams who ate the fruit of good and evil agreed and decided upon.
It is said there are 10 million Christians in Korea. That is ¼ of the population, which is a huge number. If they all lived a life of the salt and light, would all of Korea really give glory to God? The biblical equation is that if the saints live a righteous life, or a life of the salt and light, the world will hate and persecute and will never return to God. This means even if those 10 million may live well a life of the salt and light, they will not change the world, but will be isolated from the world. This is the biblical equation. The world is not influenced by the life of the church whatsoever. It does not change. Only the church changes. That is what today’s text is talking about. Jesus is not saying to live as the light or salt, but He is simply declaring here. You are the light. You are the salt. He is just declaring and proclaiming what is already completed, what is perfected at a certain point in time.
What were the Beatitudes we have studied before all about? They were explaining the reality and phenomenon that occur when the people of God, who are blessed before the creation, live the kingdom of God in this history. And as you know, the blessings appear differently from the blessings defined by the world. They appear as mourning, thirst, hunger, persecution, and seeking for mercy, etc. The life of the salt and light covers all these eight Beatitudes. This life of the salt and light is not an admirable life which is ethical, moral, or conscientious, but it is depicting the reality of the saints who are to live in no relation to the blessings of this world in a different language.
Just as in the Beatitudes, we can come to salvation only by the righteousness of Jesus. This is thirsting and hungering for righteousness, being poor in spirit, and therefore mourning. The Beatitudes were about a life of believing firmly and preaching that we can only be at peace by the righteousness of Jesus and anything else other than the righteousness of Jesus can only be sin before God. Then, the life of the salt and light must also be about the same thing.
First, let’s study what kind of life a life of the salt is. For those who want to learn more in detail, there is a section in the lecture of the Parables where I explained about the light and salt. Please read the book or listen to the tape. Today, I will have a slightly different approach to this. In the Bible, salt comes out when it is about the covenant of God. And it often comes out when describing the sacrifices in the temple.
Ought you not to know that the Lord God of Israel gave the kingship over Israel forever to David and his sons by a covenant of salt?-2Chronicle 13:5
All the holy contributions that the people of Israel present to the Lord I give to you, and to your sons and daughters with you, as a perpetual due. It is a covenant of salt forever before the Lord for you and for your offspring with you.”-Numbers 18:19
Like this, the Bible uses the word salt to point to the covenant of God. There is a word that always appears when the word salt is paired with the word covenant and it is ‘olam’, which means ‘eternal’. So, a covenant of salt means an eternal covenant, a covenant which will not change, just like salt that does not change forever. Salt remains salt even thousands of years later. Its substance does not chemically change. Its taste remains the same, too. Have you seen any salt that becomes tasteless when left alone? Salt does not change its flavor. It is everlasting. That is why it refers to the covenant before the creation which can never change or be cancelled like the eternally unchanging salt. So ‘berit olam’ is used together. The everlasting covenant. The salt covenant. The salt’s characteristic of not changing its substance and flavor forever is used as an adverb to describe the everlasting covenant of God. I looked up all the places where ‘olam(eternal)’, is used with ‘berit(covenant)’ one by one. And I unlocked today’s text as I was looking them up.
First, let’s go to Genesis 9.
And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: (This is the same word.) When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” -Genesis 9:12; 16
God gives Noah a covenant of a rainbow. What is a rainbow? What is a bow? It is a bow made by the rain of curse and this bow is to be pulled aiming at God. God is being sacrificed to bring those who are evil from birth to life- this is a rainbow covenant. The Bible calls this an everlasting covenant or salt covenant. It is repeated twice as ‘olam berit’. What is this rainbow covenant mainly about? It is not “I punished you once and since you say you won’t sin again, I will not destroy you with a flood anymore”. It is “I punished you like this but you still sin again”. What did Moses say to Israel after coming out of Egypt? What did God tell Moses to do? He said, “You will live the same way you did in Egypt.” And He tells Moses to make a song for them to sing: “I will be the same. I will be the same. I will not change but stay the same~~ but God will give mercy~~” This is the Gospel.
Please look at Genesis 8:21.
And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse[a] the ground because of man, for the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth. (This is after the flood) Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done.-Genesis 8:21
It means sin cannot be removed by punishment or doctrinal lessons because men are evil from youth, or birth. So another way is prepared. What is it? What happened right before the everlasting salt covenant?
Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. –Genesis 8:20
Like this, behind Noah’s rainbow covenant, clean animals were sacrificed to bring the unclean animals to life. And God gives a covenant of the rainbow. So the eternal covenant of salt is focused on God’s salvation by grace, where the dead are freely brought to life by the blood of the cross of Jesus. That is the salt covenant or eternal covenant. The second time ‘olam berit (eternal covenant)’ comes out is in the covenant of Abraham. Please look at Genesis 17:7.
And I will establish my covenant (olam berit) between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. -Genesis 17:7
God is making a covenant with Abraham and also with his offspring. Who is this offspring in Galatians? It says it is a single offspring and not many offspring. It is one offspring and it is Jesus Christ. Let’s go there. Please look at Galatians 3:16.
Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ. -Galatians 3:16
If we find the original form of the covenant God established with Jesus Christ, wouldn’t the true identity of the salt covenant become clearer? Where does this original form come out? It comes out in Hebrew 9. Let’s take a look.
Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.[a] 16 For where a will (This word is covenant) is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. (In another word, the one who made the covenant must die) 17 For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive. 18 Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. 19 For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, 20 saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you.” 21 And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship. 22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. -Hebrews 9:15-22
Here, the word covenant is translated as ‘will’. So, the eternal covenant, salt covenant means ‘blood must be sprinkled between God and Jesus, the maker of the covenant, so the people of God given to Him will come to life’. No blood, no forgiveness is the core of the eternal covenant. It is the covenant of blood. If we were to choose one core word for the covenant before the creation, it is ‘blood’. Blood. Real sinners that must die, shedding blood, coming to life for free by Jesus, the offspring of God, is the covenant established between God and His offspring, who is Jesus Christ. Paul describes this covenant before the creation as such in Ephesians:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us[a] for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, -Ephesians 1:3-7
We who are of many spots and blemishes, being saved and coming to eternal life for free by His blood, is the main theme of the covenant before creation. It is the blood again. If we look at Numbers 18, we can know that the salt covenant is related to the priests. Please look at verses 18 and 19.
All the holy contributions that the people of Israel present to the Lord I give to you, and to your sons and daughters with you, as a perpetual due (Due means portion or inheritance.). It is a covenant of salt forever before the Lord for you and for your offspring with you.”-Numbers 18:9
Moses is explaining the salt covenant and making a connection to the portion of a priest. It says the salt covenant is a promise of God to give what is offered on the altar to the priests forever. ‘I will give to you as a perpetual due, a perpetual portion, an everlasting inheritance.’ This is the salt covenant. What does this mean?
Priests living off of what the people give as an offering – this will go on forever. ‘Olam’, it will not change forever. This is ‘olam berit’, the salt covenant, everlasting covenant. What does it mean then? In other words, the people acknowledged and honored the hard work and sacrifice of the priests by sharing the offerings. So it means the work of acknowledging and honoring the hard work and sacrifices of the priests will continue forever. This is the salt covenant. Was this covenant accomplished? No, it was not. We studied in Judges. Priest went around here and there looking for places to beg. Israel did not treat them well. Then, where is this salt covenant kept? Between who and who is this kept? The salt covenant is kept between the church and Jesus Christ, the high priest of the church.
The church cannot help but to live as those who acknowledge and honor the sacrifice and hard work of the cross the high priest has done for us. Here it is saying that the covenant which will be accomplished between the church and Jesus Christ the high priest is the salt covenant, the eternal covenant. When the church, whom God saved by the blood of His offspring by the salt covenant, completely acknowledges and praises Jesus Christ for the work of accomplishing the salt covenant while acknowledging why He had to accomplish the salt covenant and admitting our impossibility and powerlessness, the salt covenant is completely accomplished. And He is saying ‘how can salt lose its saltiness?’ because this will surely be done.
It is not about living as a good person or striving to do good works. Be someone to season among men? Prevent corruption (decaying) of men? Stop your own corruption. Whose corruption can you prevent? It is not about that. Dead soil, which cannot come to life, becoming spotless and blameless and perfect people of God by being kneaded with the blood of the Son of God is the eternal covenant, the salt covenant. And the church, which is born from there, admitting that the salt covenant is actually accomplished only by the zeal of God and admitting and praising the work of Jesus Christ, who sacrificed and served, is the purpose of the covenant before the creation as said in Ephesians 1. That is the accomplishment of the salt covenant. In other words, the state of oneself completely being denied is the accomplishment of the salt covenant. To say that this covenant will surely be done, it is called the salt covenant, the eternal covenant.
Simply put, the salt covenant is ‘God will surely chase down the saints to the death of the self ego in flesh’. That is why today’s text is saying “how can salt be called salt if it loses its saltiness.” Salt can never lose its own flavor. One thousand or two thousand years may pass but salt keeps its saltiness as is. It’s the same as ‘saints, you must pass through this history, being denied of yourselves even if it takes one thousand or two thousand years. To the place of “I am the worst of all sinners. I have a body of death”. This is the place of self-denial. So the focus of verse 13 in today’s text is on ‘salt can be none other than salt and therefore, it cannot lose its saltiness’ and it is not on ‘it will be thrown out to be trampled if it cannot do the job the salt should do.’ Why? Because salt cannot lose its saltiness.
Thus, when hearing Jesus saying you are the salt of the world, we saints must exalt the righteousness of Jesus realizing “Yes, we are the people of the kingdom of God who must boast and praise only the righteousness of Jesus, who has accomplished the salt covenant in this world. No human good works can contribute or add to the accomplishment of the salt covenant.” We must not go to ‘we must do all we can to live as the salt so we can prevent the corruption of the world’. This is corruption in itself because it means we are still not self-denied and think “we can do something.”
Like this, salt is to honor Jesus, the high priest who bore the cross to save us as the high priest. We just read that this is the salt covenant. That is why saints are the salt. In the Bible, salt and covenant are interchangeably used. Salt of covenant, covenant of salt. Like this, they are used interchangeably. Saints are to live and witness with their body and lips as to how the covenant of God is accomplished. That is the life of a saint as the salt. ‘Despite my incompetence, my salvation will never fail because of the eternally unchanging salt covenant.’ –This is being salt.
However, according to what we studied last week, what happens when we live a life of exalting and boasting only the righteousness of Jesus? That is being salt and what happens if you do that? “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake~” It says you are persecuted. Therefore, the life of the salt is not about living a godly and clean life of keeping good morals and ethics but rather, it is a life of being persecuted by the world for boasting of Jesus, who alone has accomplished the eternal salt covenant, of being the high priest.
It means just like Jesus was trampled in this world, you will be trampled by the world if you live as the salt that witnesses Jesus as the achiever and perfector of the salt covenant and only His righteousness. Why? Because it is crushing human pride. That is why ‘you are the salt’ is attached right under ‘blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake’. It means ‘you will definitely be persecuted for righteousness’ sake because you are the salt.’ This is why Bible becomes an ethics book if not understood within the context.
We are those who came to life by a sacrifice and a priest called Jesus but we are also to live a life of a sacrifice and a priest. Romans 12:1, present your bodies as a holy living sacrifice… it is calling us a sacrifice. Aren’t we also called a royal priesthood? Jesus harmed himself to accomplish the salt covenant as a priest and a sacrifice. Right? He bled. Then, what does it mean our lives are going to be? Our lives as the salt will go on the same way. We will be persecuted by the world and die bearing the cross. Fleshly self-ego will die like that. But it is a saint’s life to receive the life of a curse and judgment up front and be freed from the eternal curse and judgment. That is why you taste a tad bit of the eternal curse and judgment and experience it in this life. But we experience self-denial and self-elimination when this falls on our fleshly self-ego in this world. Like, “Ah~ I cannot do without the grace of Jesus. I must hold only onto the grace of God.” This is bearing and dying on the cross. That is why the Old Testament uses salt when describing the reality of God’s judgment, the cursed reality.
Therefore, as I live,” declares the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Moab shall become like Sodom, and the Ammonites like Gomorrah, a land possessed by nettles and salt pits, and a waste forever. The remnant of my people shall plunder them, and the survivors of my nation shall possess them.”-Zephaniah 2:9
Moab and Ammon are Lot’s offspring born from sleeping together with his daughters after coming out of Sodom and Gomorrah. They are everlasting enemies of Israel. What would they become? They would become salt like Sodom and Gomorrah. So it means that salt is the reality of the curse of Sodom and Gomorrah. That is why Lot’s wife turned into salt looking back. Salt is the reality of judgment and curse. Therefore, you being the salt of the world means you are to experience the judgment and curse in this world. That is called persecution. But as a rule, you become free from the eternal judgment and curse after being persecuted and dying like this. Please look at Psalms 107: 33-34.
He turns rivers into a desert, springs of water into thirsty ground, 34 a fruitful land into a salty waste (This is a field of salt.), because of the evil of its inhabitants. -Psalms 107:33-34
Land is turned into a salty waste by the curse of God. Look at Deuteronomy 29:23.
the whole land burned out with brimstone and salt, nothing sown and nothing growing, where no plant can sprout, an overthrow like that of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, which the Lord overthrew in his anger and wrath—-Deuteronomy 29:23
Sodom and Gomorrah come out again. Salt is the reality of curse and judgment. Therefore, you must understand well what ‘you are the salt of the world’ means. You’d better not say, “Yes! Let’s live as the salt!”
Please look at Mark 9:48.
‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’ 49 For everyone will be salted with fire.[a] (Where? In hell. Salt is the reality of the eternal judgment in hell. But look at how the salt in this history is like.)
50 Salt is good (all of sudden after talking about hell, after saying that hell is salted with fire, it says salt is good) , but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.” -Mark 9:48
Where does this story start from? It starts from the disciples arguing who is better than whom, from the fight among the disciples to become greater than others. And in that, God is saying you should cut off all rather than go to hell sinning. Cut off all. What did I say ‘cut’ is? I told you this is a sacrificial vocabulary, ‘circumcision’. I will cut off your fleshly self ego in this history because you cannot enter into heaven like that, but Jesus already completed this on the cross. So you will experience the reality of this completed salvation in history and you experience what should be cut off forever, the hell salted with fire. It means you will experience the salt in which your fleshly self-ego is persecuted and attacked by God in this world and that salt is good.
So what happens when salt is given to us? “Ah~ we are not saved and received eternal life because we are qualified or have achieved something but because our Lord accomplished the salt covenant by being cleaved as the salt. Therefore, you and I were dead dust if not by the salt covenant.” What is this? It is peace-making. This is why it says to have salt and make peace. Be at peace.
Peace is what occurs among the people who live the life of salt, knowing and preaching the accomplishment of the salt covenant. That is peace, ‘eirene’. For this reason, the Bible repeatedly records events of restoration occurring when the salt of curse, the salt of judgment, is sprinkled. That salt of curse, the salt of judgment, is sprinkled at what is dead. This is us. But the Bible speaks of the antinomic story of the miracle of us coming to life when that salt of curse and judgment is sprinkled on us in many places. Please look at 2 Kings 2:19.
Now the men of the city said to Elisha, “Behold, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees, but the water is bad, and the land is unfruitful.”(This means the fruit is aborted.) 20 He said, “Bring me a new bowl, and put salt in it.” So they brought it to him. 21 Then he went to the spring of water (Not on the stream but to the source of the water the salt is thrown. It is killing it.) and threw salt in it and said, “Thus says the Lord, I have healed this water; from now on neither death nor miscarriage shall come from it.” -2 Kings 2:19-21
Not being able to conceive means death. That is why the state of being dead is described as not being able to bear a child in the Old Testament. It is death. The fleshly self-ego dies when the judgment goes, or death goes to the site of death and kills death. The human possibility dies. Once killed, miscarriage no longer occurs. Now conception occurs. Life is conceived now once the death is killed by the judgment of God. This is our life in history. This is the Beatitudes we have been studying so far. All of it. It is done so and dead comes to life. Thus, as salt, we must die in this world. This is the life of salt. That is why the Bible does not say ‘become salt’ but ‘you are the salt’. You will definitely be persecuted for righteousness’ sake because you are the salt. Please look at Exodus 30:35.
and make an incense blended as by the perfumer, seasoned with salt, pure and holy. 36 You shall beat some of it very small, and put part of it before the testimony in the tent of meeting where I shall meet with you. It shall be most holy for you.-Exodus 30:35
What is not holy becomes holy and pure when seasoned with salt. That is salt. Same for you. In this world, you live all mixed up with the world. You like the same thing the world likes. But it is called holiness when the double-edged sword of God separates you from the world. This is called salt. Being separated is persecution, tribulation, and suffering. It is for us not to look to the world. That is why all unclean animals crawl on the land in Leviticus. Animals like snakes and centipedes. Clean animals jump like grasshoppers. It is to show that those who lift their feet from the land toward heaven, those who ascend to heaven are clean. Because we are made of dust, we have a tendency toward dust. We love dust. We love the earth and try hard not to be separated from here. That is why God puts the knife under our belly and cuts off and it is called making holy. This is tribulation. This is the life of salt. That is why it says it becomes holy when seasoned with salt. Please look at Leviticus 2:13.
You shall season all your grain offerings with salt. You shall not let the salt of the covenant with your God be missing from your grain offering; with all your offerings you shall offer salt.-Leviticus 2:13
It says all grain offerings must be seasoned with salt and the salt sprinkled on the grain offerings is called the salt of covenant. Salt of covenant, or covenant of salt. There are used interchangeably. Covenant and salt are the same. The core of the covenant is the sacrifice of Jesus, the cross of Jesus. What is it? It is salt, tribulation, judgment, and curse. The grain offerings become perfect offerings by being seasoned with salt and God only accepts these.
Honey and yeast must not be added. Those can altar things so only salt must be added. By adding honey and yeast, you are getting what you want. Something sweet and rich. That is a no-no. It cannot be offered up to God. But God accepts what is seasoned with salt. Why? Because it is salty? What is ‘offering’? Offering means what is acceptable to God. So something innocent has to be offered. It means what is acceptable to God is the kingdom of God and what belongs to the kingdom of God has to be filled only with the life of God. What happens when the offering has something of its own, even if a little bit? It cannot be perfectly filled with what is of God. So salt must be sprinkled and die completely. That is judgment. When this happens, God fills the inside. Have you sprinkled salt on earth worms or on loaches? Grandmothers in the countryside sometimes catch loaches to make a stew and put them in a large bowl and sprinkle salt on them. They all stiffen up and die. Think of it that way. They are being killed like that. Do you know why the offering called Jesus died on the cross? It is to show that ‘you are going to pass through in this world like that. That is how you become the people of God.’ I have told you that is the mechanism of existence in the kingdom of God. Existence manual. If not, you cannot exist in the kingdom of God. That is why the salt is sprinkled.
Those who stay very much alive and keep their worth and sense of existence this way and that way are the people who will die in eternity. All those who wish to live on this earth will die. Jesus has said so. But those who die in this world will live. That is salt, the life of curse, life of judgment, life of self-denial of the flesh. That’s why it hurts. Life full of wounds because of God’s beating. It comes out in Isaiah. Doesn’t He say you are full of wounds? On that body, on your life, God is even pouring salt. Die. That is it is not fun. The life of a saint is not fun because God keeps sprinkling salt on it.
In the old days, those who believed in superstitions always sprinkled salt when coming back from any unclean places like a funeral. “Go away you unclean spirit~!” God is doing this to our lives. “You are the unclean spirits now. You cannot come into the kingdom of God unless you are dead.” That is why He keeps sprinkling salt on us. “Go away you unclean spirit~!” (Being called an unclean spirit is a mild term considering we are the chief evil. Unclean spirits sound somewhat milder.) Without the life of salt, we cannot be pure and holy. I said that is why 'Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake’ is continued with ‘you are the salt of the world’ right under it. You can understand it as ‘how can salt escape from the life of persecution?'
Now, let’s examine ‘you are the light of the world’. Originally the true form of the light is God. It is why the light appears in Genesis 1 saying, “Let there be light!” It is foreshadowing that all work of creation occurring from now on is done under the control of God. So, this light comes down to this world in flesh. Please go to John 1:1-4.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. 4 In him was life,[a] and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. -John 1:1-5
The word ‘light’ here and the word ‘light’ in today’s text are the same word: light. In verse 5, what is the characteristic of the darkness opposite of the light? Not being able to recognize the light when the light is shining is called darkness. It is not anything else. The light is shining but not being able to recognize it saying, “Why should I get help from that light?” This is darkness. This was the Pharisees. They said they knew God and were waiting for the Messiah but they said, “I am qualified to be the light and without the light’s complete help, I am already living the life of the light somewhat. So I do not need the complete help from the light. If it helps me completely, that’s losing my own sense of existence. So it’s a no-no.” This is darkness, not being able to recognize the light. Please look at Isaiah 42:6.
I am the Lord; I have called you[a] in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon (dungeon means prison), from the prison those who sit in darkness.
-Isaiah 42:6-7
It says God sent the Lord, the light, to the world and the duty of the light is to be a covenant for the people, or the salt covenant. It says He will make Him a covenant for the people. What is a covenant? It says He will be the salt covenant, eternal covenant. What does that mean? It means to go and kill. “Kill them. They will all be guilty once if You bear the cross.” That is why He dies, becoming a covenant. The light opens the eyes of the blind and brings out of darkness those who are sitting in darkness.
The light is coming to carry out the role of the salt of judgment. Think carefully about it. The light is to expose what darkness is, what evil is. The light does not shine on it to make it a light. The light is to reveal and expose, “That is darkness. That is evil.” This is what the salt did. It’s the same thing. That is why it says, “You are the salt. You are the light.” He, the light, came but people refused His help. That is not recognizing the light. That is darkness. By Him, the world is exposed as darkness and He died on the cross. Same for the salt. It is talking about the same thing.
The Bible not only calls those who do not recognize the light as darkness, but also as blind. That is why the Lord often compares the darkness, which does not recognize Him, to being blind. That is darkness, the opposite of light, not recognizing Jesus, not trusting only Jesus. This is darkness. The light is to expose that. If you go to the Arminianistic church and explain the grace of God, won’t they say, “What are you? You are different from us. Hey, how much we trust our own works! How great are human beings! We do believe in Jesus, too!” Although they say they believe in Jesus, they will be revealed as completely different beings. This is light exposing darkness. This is the life of the light.
However, those who trust human possibility and power most definitely try to trample and put off the light. This was the life of Jesus. It was the life of the light. The Pharisees, those nice Jews, put off this light. Those nice Arminians drove away those who spoke of grace and the cross as heretics. This has been going on throughout history. Please look at John 9:39-41.
Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world (What is judgment? Salt) , that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” (He will make those who do not see able to see but what happens to those who see? He will turn make blind.) 40 Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” 41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt;[a] but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.-John 9:39-41
The one who says, “Yes, I am blind. I cannot carry out the duty of light, not even a little bit, unless Jesus shines on me. I am blind.” - when the light comes to him, is the light. But the one who says, “Even if you do not shine on me, I am living as a good person. I keep the law well and diligently go to church” is blind. Go one step deeper into the Bible, just one step further. It calls the one who admits that he is blind as light. This is what Jesus said, not me. That is why Jesus is saying He came to this world as salt to judge. This world says it sees all. Why? Because it became like God. “I am alright. Hey, let’s put our power together and build up the Tower of Babel.”
The One who has come to judge comes to His people and judges them. He comes down and attacks me and I lose in the war of Gog and Magog because Jesus comes down as the judge. “What is this? I am a blind!” This is the one who is being judged. But God calls him a light. Like this, Jesus eats up the blindness of the one who admits he is a blind and this is called salvation.
Hear, you deaf, and look, you blind, that you may see! 19 Who is blind but my servant, (What is the theme of Isaiah? A suffering servant. Who is this servant? Jesus. But my servant) or deaf as my messenger whom I send? Who is blind as my dedicated one,[a] or blind as the servant of the Lord?-Isaiah 42:18-19
It says Jesus is blind. What is the narrative of Isaiah? It is a servant of God going down for our sins and transgressions. But the servant came down and became blind. Why? Because this world is darkness, because it is blind. Jesus eats up the blindness of only those who admit they are blind. In other words, it means those who are elected before the creation would say, “Yes, I am darkness alright. I am blind alright” when they hear about the righteousness of the cross of Jesus and when the word invades them. They are called the light. Please look at John 12:46.
I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.-John 12:46
Light has come to shine on the darkness, to pull it out into the light and what do you call it when those who were in darkness coming out into the light? Jesus calls them those who believe in me. Believing in Jesus is the light. You must not believe in yourself. One must not believe in him/herself. The trust you have in yourself and the love for yourself must be destroyed. The trust and love you have for the idol called “I” must be turned to Jesus more and more. Those who do this are called the light. They are called the believers. The Lord calls those who still trust in human possibility darkness and those who are sitting in the shadowy land of death. Please look at Matthew 4:16.
the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, (This means they are sitting in the shadowy land of death.)on them a light has dawned.”-Matthew 4:16
Those who do not recognize the light are all darkness and death. They are dead. That is why Jesus called those who tried so hard to keep the law and to live a good life and did not feel the need of Jesus for that reason as the devil. He called them dead, a grave, brood of vipers. It means they are blind and darkness. They do not know the necessity of Jesus, not knowing they absolutely need Jesus in their life. This is called being blind. The Lord who is the light came to this world and exposed the Pharisees, who were keeping the laws and sacrifices well and trying to do good works as sinners. Until then, they were the light, but when the true light came, their true identity was revealed as zombies. You are the light of the world means the saints are to do this very work.
Now, all churches are trying hard to make a healthy, moral, and good church. When everyone is pursuing this, what happens if some people come to them and say, “Church does not become healthy by doing that but you need to believe the righteousness of Jesus, the grace of the cross!”? They will obviously be attacked. But a separation occurs there. When the light comes, there will be a separation and a split for sure. Look at Genesis 1. Light comes and the first day, second day, and third day, they are all split. It is a separation. That is called holiness. Let’s see later who is the light. Our Lord said the saints are also the light. Like this, we also must expose the darkness of those who pretend to be the light while holding on to the righteousness of God, the righteousness of Jesus, and preaching His righteousness. That is light. Do you think this kind of life is easy? It is difficult. They will curse us saying, “You are speaking ill of me because you cannot live like this yourself.” Those proclaiming in protest, “that is not a life of light, believing in Jesus is the life of light!” before the people who firmly believe they themselves are the light of the world with their great outer appearance and works are the light. Jesus said, “I am the light so repent and believe in me!” And the Pharisees said, “No! We are living as good people.” But Jesus kept saying, “No, you must believe in me!” This is the light. You are to live this kind of life. That is why it says ‘a city set on a hill cannot be hidden’ through the saint’s such life as the light in verse 14 of today’s text. Please take a look again.
You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. –Matthew 5:14
What is a city set on a hill? Palos Verdes? Is it about ghetto cities on a hill in Korea? Who is the recipient of Matthew? It the Jews. (You all studied in vain) Jews were experts in the Old Testament. That is why much of the Old Testament is quoted in Matthew. That is why you cannot interpret Matthew if you do not know the Old Testament. Where does a city on a hill come out in the Old Testament? It is not talking about any city on a hill. The Bible does not use that kind of obscure expression. Please look at Isaiah 2:1-3.
The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. 2 It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it,(Where is this? Jerusalem.) 3 and many peoples shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go the law,[a] and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. -Isaiah 2:1-3
To the Jews, a city on a hill was Jerusalem. For any Jew, Jerusalem was a city on a hill. Then, what is Jerusalem? The core of legalism, the sum of legalism. A temple is there. It’s where sacrifices were made. Jerusalem is where the law was taught. That is why the new heaven and new earth is called the New Jerusalem because Jerusalem of this world is the sum of legalism.Jesus came but the Pharisees, the Jews, were in a disguise, saying they were good people. They were hiding themselves. But when the light shone, the city on a hill, which was in a disguise, became revealed as evil, as a grave. It is the same. It means, “You are the light of the world. If you are true light, the legalism and humanism which is corroding the church today will surely be exposed." This is what a city set on a hill cannot be hidden means. Where should the light be placed for it to shine the entire city on a hill? It is talking about Jerusalem. The Bible is consistent. From Matthew 5:1 till here, God is running like a highway to the cross without a single error. Please look at Matthew 23:24. Look how Jesus exposes the Pharisees and scribes who can be called the core, the center of Jerusalem.
You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel! 25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. (It is referring to men’s good works done by those who do not know grace. He is saying this is adorning only on the outside.) 26 You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean. (Look, He is calling them blind. It means they are darkness. But the darkness is living a clean life. But God comes down and keeps calling them blind, calling them darkness. He says they are not the light. He says they look good only on the outside.) 27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness. 28 So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. -Matthew 23:24-28
Pharisees and scribes were those kept the law with their own life. They were extremely good people but they are being called blind and darkness. And He tells them they must clean the inside. How do you clean the inside? Ezekiel 36. It comes out in Ezekiel. It says we were unclean blood discharging people, people who defiled the land with blood, who were having a menstrual discharge. We were that kind of people but God washed us clean with water and gave us a new heart through the Holy Spirit. Clean the inside means this. It means to believe in Jesus. “Do you really believe in Jesus? Do you believe that God washed you clean with the Holy Spirit and saved you for free, even though you didn’t do anything for it when you were sick from continuous menstrual discharges, when you were unclean?” This is being clean in the inside. That is a new heart, being clean in the inside. He is asking, “Are your deeds coming from this?” But, we are the kind of people who keep forgetting His grace once we turn around, even if we learn about it till we die. That is why we keep learning about it. “Yes, that’s right. I have become clean. I am already clean in the inside.” In the process of confirming this, my self-ego in the flesh is denied and from there the deeds God really wants come out. People, what did the Pharisees do such that God kept calling them blind and looking good only on the outside and exposed their true identity like that? The light came and kept calling them “you are darkness, you are darkness.” What did these people do? It comes out right above it. Let’s look.
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell[e] as yourselves.16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ 17 You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred? 18 And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.’ 19 You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? -Matthew 23:15-19
Blind Pharisees, who belonged to the darkness, taught people that if someone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if someone swears by the gold of the temple he must keep, and if someone swears by the altar- altar is where the offering was burnt- it is nothing, but by the gift on the altar, he must keep. This temple and altar was the model that embodied the reality of the new covenant accomplished by Jesus Christ being the sacrifice and the priest. That is the temple and the altar. The people of God had to hold on to God’s grace in the temple and at the altar. But, legalists were more interested in the gold and the gifts being offered in the temple. They are pushing the temple and the altar below the gold and the gifts. “Grace? It has nothing to do with me since it is not visible now. We are more interested in things like certain profit, additional profit which we can see right now rather than praising the righteousness of Jesus Christ, which has no benefit for us.” It is referring to those who are more interested in what kind of evaluation they can get from teaching people the law, doing religious works well, and doing good works. It is not simply about being interested in gold, gifts, or money. But it means those who are not interested in the reality of God’s grace and the reality of salvation, but seek what kind of benefit they can get right away through religious works are blind. They are darkness. That is painted grace which looks good only on the outside.
Like this, the righteousness of men, Jerusalem on the hill, is bound to be exposed in full before the righteousness of Jesus. Pharisees were hiding themselves well but someone came and went around calling them liars, adulterous, darkness, and blind. When nobody knew, when they were only being praised, when all people respected them because they prayed in the middle of the road when praying, and grew long beards to look scruffy when fasting to show they were starving, someone came and said, “I know your inside, you jerk.” And now He is telling you to do this. He is telling you to preach only the cross and the blood. When you do, those who have been disguising themselves with their works will be very uncomfortable with you. They will say, “Why is that man saying no when everyone else is all respecting me.”
But you must live as a person who reveals the city on a hill, the hidden city on a hill. That is why Jesus says, “You are the light.” It is not "live like the light". It is not “Be the light”. It is “You are the light.” Where is this attached to? ‘You are the light” is attached under “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake.” It is saying, “You will be persecuted, why? Because you are the light. How much would they trample on you for revealing a city on a hill?” But if you look at verse 15, on whom does the light shine? The light shines only on the people in the house. That is why only they come to the light saying, “Yes, I am blind.” For this reason, the phrase “in the house” is in there. Only the saints recognize it. Others will only be cursing inside, “What ****** grace!” Please look at Matthew 5:15.
Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. –Matthew 5:15
People who are inside the house of God are meant to react when they see the light. They are to say it is right. All others will say, “How can I put off the light?” (Don’t women do this, especially those who come to our church’s morning service? Can we turn just one light on? Why turn on all the lights in the morning so our unwashed face can be seen?”) This is called persecution. You must live this kind of life. Praising God’s grace “Like that, I was darkness but God shone on me the light called Jesus and I have become the light for free”, trusting only the righteousness of Jesus like that, and believing only Jesus- What do you call this? In John 6, it says it’s the work of God. How do we do the work of God? That is the work. What is it when we believe like that? Good works. Those who have seen the light by those good works give glory to God. The end.
The story of the salt and light is talking about this. There is nothing else about it. What kind of light were you planning to live as? As a light that reveals other people’s fault? If not, a laser that kills when hit? It says live as the light and everyone becomes a laser and shoots at others saying, “Just die. Why are you only up to this? Why are you so dirty?” If this is not a laser, what is it? No, we are only to act as the light that reveals the righteousness of Jesus, only Him who is the light. Like that, you will reveal the city on a hill and make the people of God among them come into the light and get beat up by others. While doing this, you will run up to the Lord in bare feet when He comes and say, “my groom, what took you so long?” (I have been reading the Song of Songs for more than 20 hours a day and all my words are like… I almost called a certain pastor a ‘dove’.) Like this, you need to long for the groom and the place where He is. To be like this, you must have that kind of persecution. Why? You do know why the story of the light and salt is attached right under the narrative of the Beatitudes? Let’s pray.