“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 underfoot.” (Matthew 5:13)
Ray and I were talking about this verse, and it led to quite a discussion. You see, salt (a.k.a. NaCl) is a chemical compound made of sodium and chlorine. These two are very happy to be together and it actually takes a lot to separate them. So, NaCl doesn’t “lose” its flavor. So then—what could Jesus have been talking about?
Jesus was speaking metaphorically. However, that doesn't mean we can just discount what he said. Throughout biblical times, salt was used as a preservative. One of the ways that they preserved meat was by putting it on rocks that had salt in them. But once the meat had leached the salt out of the rock, it wasn't useful anymore. Additionally, salt came from different sources. Salt that came from a mine was more pure in nature, whereas salt that came from the Dead Sea was full of impurities. Those impurities made the salt less salty. Since Jesus was speaking to people who would have used salt from the Dead Sea, we can assume his audience would have understood how some salt wasn't as salty as others.
What comes after this verse are Jesus’ teachings about anger, revenge, adultery, and loving our enemies—in all of which He tells us to be different from the world. His point of losing our saltiness is based on taking on impurities or worldliness. Becoming just like the world, then, makes us ineffective to be set apart or to preserve the truth.
Because salt was the only way to preserve food, it was a valuable commodity. People used it as currency to trade. It was precious and necessary.
Jesus was speaking to ordinary people—fisherman, shepherds, laborers. And He said, “You are the salt of the earth!” He is declaring that they are valuable! This saying has become one that speaks of ordinary people full of kindness, honesty, integrity, diligence, and sincerity. You are to be just that, the salt of the earth!