10th Week in Ord. Time, Tuesday – 8th June 2021 — Gospel: Mt 5,13-16
Who ‘You Are’ is more important
By placing “You are” at the head of the sentences (5,13-14), Jesus wishes to tell his disciples that “who they are” is more important before “what they do”. The simple fact that they are with Jesus, they are identified as the salt of the earth and light of the world. In the larger context, ‘You ares’ are the bridge between the Beatitudes (5,1-12) and the commands (5,17-48). The power of the remainder of the sermon flows from this beginning, where the disciples are uniquely identified as the world’s salt and light. In Jesus’ teaching, wholeness stands as God’s gift at the beginning of performance and not at the end. Polemically Jesus’ ‘you ares’ sound in his situation, for now it is no longer the Torah, the temple, Jerusalem, and Israel that are the salt and light of the world but it is the followers of Jesus. The main thing about salt is that it is different. So it should be with the disciples. Their power in the world lies in their difference from it. As salt exists for food, so disciples exist for the world. Earlier Jesus himself had been called the Light of the nations (4,16)’ now the Light passes on his light to his disciples. The disciples when they encounter Jesus they reflect his light into the world. In the commissioning of ‘You are’s’ we are sent out to share God’s love with the world.
