Saturday, November 6, 2010

Letter To Laodicea (part 17)

The last of the Gospel presentations of an ears to hear statement by Jesus is to be found in Luke.  It has no correlate in the remainder of the Gospels.  By this point we should find ourselves unsurprised that the statement is delivered in connection with Jesus’ telling of parables.  The precise location of this particular utterance is the thirty-fifth verse of the fourteenth chapter of Luke.  There, with striking familiarity, we find “The one who has ears to hear had better listen!”  It follows from Jesus declaring and asking if “Salt is good, but if salt loses its flavor, how can its flavor be restored?” (14:34a).  The conclusion presented is that “It is of no value for the soil or for the manure pile; it is to be thrown out” (14:34b). 

Now, the attentive reader will quickly realize that this is not the only time that Jesus is said to have utilized “salt” terminology.  Though there is no correlate of this particular usage of ears to hear in the other Gospels, we find Jesus speaking of salt in all of the synoptic Gospels.  In Matthew, during the course of His “Sermon On the Mount,” Jesus speaks and says “You are the salt of the earth.  But if salt loses its flavor, how can it be made salty again?  It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled on by people” (5:13).  Coupled with this declaration about salt, we also find Jesus saying “You are the light of the world.  A city located on a hill cannot be hidden.  People do not light a lamp and put it under a basket but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before people, so that they can see your good deeds, and give honor to your father in heaven” (5:14-16).  These same words of lights and lampstands are to be found on the lips of Jesus in Mark’s Gospel, though not in the context of the mountaintop message.  Additionally, Mark’s presentation of Jesus’ use of salt symbolism is disconnected from lights and lampstands, as Jesus speaks of salt while in Capernaum, saying “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again?  Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other” (9:50).  Does that mean that the authors have gotten the placement of Jesus’ words wrong?  Not at all.  It merely serves to demonstrate that Jesus hit upon the same themes, while utilizing the same symbolic language, on a regular basis.  This fact is further demonstrated by the placement of the “salt” language in Luke in the context of what is known as “the travel narrative” (Luke 9:51-19:44), as Jesus is making His way to Jerusalem. 

Along with all of these details, we do well to notice something else of considerable importance that attends these statements about salt (and lampstands), which is that they are spoken in the context of Jesus’ pronouncements concerning the kingdom of heaven.  In Matthew, not only does Jesus begin His “sermon” with mention of the kingdom of heaven (5:3), and not only does He repeat His words of the kingdom of heaven just a moment later (5:10), but shortly thereafter He also speaks of the kingdom of heaven three times in rapid succession, following His speaking about salt, light, and lampstands.  After speaking of the law, He says “So anyone who breaks one of the least of these commands and teaches others to do will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever obeys them and teaches others to do so will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.  For I tell  you, unless your righteousness goes beyond that of the experts in the law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (5:19-20).  Clearly, Jesus attaches a great deal of importance to the realities and the presence of the kingdom of heaven, being quite adamant that it is the living out of life in accordance with the principles of the kingdom of heaven that is paramount. 

The words of Jesus associated with His salt statements in the ninth chapter of Mark take a different tone but accord well with what we have just heard from Matthew’s report.  There Jesus is reported to have said, “If anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him to have a huge millstone tied around his neck and to be thrown into the sea.  If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off!  It is better for you to enter into life crippled than to have two hands and go into hell, to the unquenchable fire.  If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off!  It is better to enter life lame than to have two feet and be thrown into hell.  If your eye causes you to sin, tear it out!  It is better to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, where their worm never dies and the fire is never quenched” (9:42-48).  So again, salty language is linked with Jesus’ abiding concern for the kingdom of God.  Though some would look upon this as Jesus’ definitive pronouncements about hell, we are probably better served to grasp what it is that He is communicating about God and His kingdom, which is a far more pressing concern for Him.  So here, as we should expect (just as we have come to expect with all of Jesus’ ears to hear statements), Jesus is concerning Himself with the practices, principles, and ethics associated with the manifestation and operation of the kingdom of heaven.        

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