Lecture 4 — Salt of the earth

^5:13^ You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt lose its savor, wherewith will it be salted? It is good for nothing any more but to be cast out, and to be trodden on by men. [n. 450]

^5:14^ You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. [n. 456]

450. You are the salt. Above, the Lord shows the dignity of the apostles by the fact that in tribulations they would not only be suffering, but even rejoicing. But now he speaks of their excellence in the fact that they must deter others from evils, and thus he compares them to salt: you are.

And concerning this he does two things:

first, he defines their office as preventing others from evils;

second, he shows how they must protect themselves from evils, at but if salt loses its savor.

451. Therefore he says, you are the salt. He compares them to salt for four reasons.

First, because of the generation of salt, which is from water and wind and the heat of the sun: for the spiritual generation is from the water of baptism and the power of the Holy Spirit: unless someone is born again of water and the Holy Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God (John 3:5); and from the heat of the sun which is the fervor of love that comes from the Holy Spirit, the love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who is given to us (Rom 5:5). Second, because of the uses of salt, the first of which is that all things are seasoned with salt: hence he signifies the wisdom that apostolic men should have, for the wisdom of doctrine (Sirach 6:23); walk in the wisdom of God toward those who are without (Col 4:5).

The second reason was in Leviticus, for in every sacrifice salt was added (Lev 2:13), for the apostolic teaching should shine out of our every work.

The third reason is that it consumes an excess of humors and by doing so, it preserves from rotting: and in the same way the apostles curbed carnal desires through their teaching: for the time past is sufficient (I Pet 4:3); not in rioting (Rom 13:13).

The fourth effect is that it renders the earth sterile: hence it is said that some conquerors sowed salt outside the city they had seized so that nothing would grow; so also the evangelical teaching makes the earth sterile, namely so that earthly works do not spring up in us: have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness (Eph 5:11). Therefore the apostles are called salt because they have the sting of withdrawing from sins: have salt in you (Mark 9:49).

452. But someone might say: ‘It is enough that I have salt; it is not at all necessary that the virtues of salt preserve you from sin,’ and to this four arguments can be made.

453. The first is taken from incorrigibility, hence but if salt loses its savor. Those things properly lose their savor which lose their virtue: like strong wine when it loses its virtue, so also salt when it loses its bite: if salt became bland, wherewith will you season it? (Mark 9:49). Hence someone loses his salt when he falls into sin: they became vain in their thoughts (Rom 1:21). If therefore because of tribulations or something else you fall from the truth, with what will you be salted, i.e., by what other salt will it be salted? For if the masses sin, they can be corrected, but if a prelate does, nothing can repair it: how long will they be incapable of innocence? (Hos 8:5). And it should be noted that it says, but if the salt should grow insipid (Luke 14:34): for it is a great insipidity to forgo eternal goods for temporal ones.

454. The second reason is taken from usefulness, hence good for nothing, and Luke explains this: neither for the land nor for the dunghill (Luke 14:35), for it makes the earth sterile and it does not fertilize the dunghill. So are spiritual men good for nothing when they sin, because they are not good for secular affairs, like soldiers and such: son of man, what will be made of the wood of the vine? (Ezek 15:2); all have gone aside (Ps 53:3).

455. The third reason is taken from imminent danger, and it has two branches according to the two dangers. The first is expulsion, hence but to be cast out, of the Church, that is: without are dogs (Rev 22:15). Again, that the dignity of priestly magisterium is taken away: because you have rejected knowledge . . . you shall not do the office of priesthood for me (Hos 4:6), and below: the kingdom of God will be taken from you (Matt 21:43), and here it is nothing but to be cast out. The second danger is vilification, because those who live spiritually at first, but then fail, become contemptible, and this is and to be trodden on: this man began to build (Luke 14:30); you have departed out of the way, and have caused many to stumble at the law (Mal 2:8). And according to Augustine it should be noted that if certain holy men are vilified, as is said above, **and they speak all that is evil against you **(Matt 5:11), nevertheless they can never be trampled underfoot, for they always have their hearts in heaven, and only those can be trampled who are lying on the earth.

456. You are the light. Here is set forth the third dignity of apostles. For just as they must deter others from evils, so they must also illuminate. And concerning this he does two things: first, he shows their dignity; second, he removes faintheartedness, at a city . . . cannot be hidden.

Therefore he says you are the light of the world, as though not of Judea alone or of Galilee, but of the whole world: for thus the Lord commanded: I have set you as a light to the gentiles (Acts 13:47). And this was marvelous because they were scarcely known in their own land, and nevertheless their sound has gone out to all the earth (Ps 19:4). But it is objected that it seems that what he calls **light applies only to Christ: that man was not the light and later, he was the true light (John 1:8–9). It should be said that light essentially is only Christ, but the apostles are called light illuminated, that is, by participation, as the eye is light illuminating and nevertheless illuminated.

And note that these three, namely, **blessed are you when they revile you **(Matt 5:11), and you are the salt and you are the light, seem to pertain to the three last beatitudes, namely to **blessed are they who suffer persecution **(Matt 5:10), the second to **blessed are the peacemakers **(Matt 5:9), since namely, they make peace in themselves and others, and the third to **blessed are the clean of heart **(Matt 5:8). For if the apostles were excellent in these three last things, much more would they be in the ones above.

457. The Lord had said blessed are you when they revile you (Matt 5:11) and **who suffer persecution **(Matt 5:10); therefore they could say: we will undergo so many persecutions, therefore we want to hide. And thus the Lord removes the resulting faintheartedness, hence a city . . . cannot be hidden.

And first, he forbids hiding away;

second, he shows the way that they must make themselves visible, at **so let your light shine **(Matt 5:16).

He proves by two reasons that they must not hide themselves away: first, because they could not even if they wished to; second, because they should not, and this is neither do men light a lamp (Matt 5:15).