マタイによる福音書5:13-16　Matthew 5:13-16

In today’s Bible passage, there are two important things that we need in order to live. One is salt, and the other is light.

Salt is a seasoning that adds flavour to food. When cooking, we often add salt and pepper to season our food. Of course, if you add too much salt, it will taste too salty and not be very tasty. However, our bodies need salt. If you sweat a lot and don’t get enough salt, you will feel unwell. Sports drinks, which you drink after exercising and sweating a lot, have a salty-sweet taste. This is because they contain both sugar and salt.

Salt is necessary for the body, and it also prevents food from going bad. For example, salt is used to prevent fish from going bad. Salmon is one type of fish that is preserved using salt. In the old days, there was no technology for freezing food, so in order to preserve the salmon that was caught in large numbers in autumn, the fish were gutted and salt was rubbed into the flesh. This was called “aramaki-jake” in Japanese and was given as a gift at the end of the year or during the New Year. Salt is essential for preserving various kinds of fish. Even in the time of Jesus, in a place called Magdala on the shore of the Lake of Galilee, they pickled fish caught in the lake in salt. The pickled fish was then exported to the cities of Jerusalem and Rome.

Jesus said to his disciples, “You are the salt of the earth.” This is because Jesus’ disciples add good flavour to the world like salt and prevent the world from going bad. Because Adam and Eve, the ancestors of mankind, disobeyed God, all people have the sin of disobeying God. Therefore, this world has become a difficult place for people to live in. And just like food spoils, if we leave this world to itself, it will continue to get worse and worse. However, the disciples who believe in Jesus and follow him can show that there are also wonderful things in this world and prevent the world from continuing to get worse.

Jesus also said to his disciples, “You are the light of the world.” Without light, the world would be pitch black and people and other living creatures would not be able to live. What do we do at night when the sun has set and it’s dark? Nowadays, we use electricity to create light. In Jesus’ time, they created light by burning oil. The container for the oil had a wick attached to it that soaked up the oil, and they lit a fire to create a lamp. Jesus then said, “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.” Once you have lit a lamp, it is only natural to put it on a stand and let it shine brightly throughout the house. No one would light a lamp and then go to the trouble of hiding it inside a basket. Jesus’ disciples try to do what God would be pleased with, so their way of life shines in this world like a lamp. And people come to revere God, the heavenly Father.

The way of life of those who believe in Jesus and live following Jesus is different from that of people in this world. They may be seen as strange by people in this world. But because they are different from people in this world, they are useful like salt, and shine in this world like a lamp.