When Jesus says, “You are the salt of the earth,” He is saying, “That’s who you are to be, too. Moving toward wounds and weakness… moving towards brokenness and sickness… so that it doesn’t get worse, and so that it can be restored to its proper health. Yes, the truth will ‘hurt’ or ‘offend’ at some level; but pain is momentary and their life is at stake. And life is eternal.”

In Matthew 5, Jesus calls His followers “the salt of the earth” — a well-known metaphor for many, but one that is much richer and deeper than most realize.

What exactly—and entirely—did Jesus mean by it?

Many things.

And much more than we might typically assume, mainly because there are some ancient associations with salt that are simply lost on us today.

Back in biblical times, salt was prized for a number of things: its unique nature, mineral value, and wide array of uses. And this is precisely what makes it such a rich metaphor—one loaded with meaning and layered in nuance. Interestingly, salt had a place in…

• Domestic life, and also natural science.
• Social purposes, and also religious symbolism.
• Financial service, and also serving flavor.
• Ancient Jewish culture, and also Greco-Roman thought.

By invoking salt and naming His followers by it, Jesus calls forth its many associations and brings them together under an overarching spiritual principle: the calling of every Christian.

What salt is, so you will be.

What salt does, so you will do.

Where and how salt is present and purposeful, so you will be, too.

A household mineral, now bearing a holy message.

A common substance, now signifying an uncommon life.

When Jesus names His followers “the salt of the earth,” He is doing much more than referencing an everyday commodity; He is architecting a deeply nuanced connection between the many uses of salt and the many dimensions of the Christian life.

If you’ve ever wondered what it truly means to be the “salt of the earth,” here are 7 ancient associations Jesus calls forth, and with them, 7 timeless callings for us to live out each day.

1. Salt preserves life.

In biblical times, there was no refrigeration like we have today, so one of the ways people would preserve their food was not through chilling or freezing, but by salting.

One of the unique properties about salt is that it can act as a natural preservative upon food—slowing its normal decay, sustaining its inherent goodness, and delaying its inevitable spoiling. In a sense, salt upheld life.

So when Jesus says, “You are the salt of the earth” – He is essentially saying, “My people will be like salt in the world. They will act to slow moral decay and social spoiling; they will restrain its natural corruption by being people who uphold life and sustain its flourishing.”

2. Salt enhances flavor.

Another unique property of salt is that it not only preserves the lifecycle of food, but also enhances the flavor of food. We are undoubtedly most familiar with this property by experience (chips and fries…), but we might not be as familiar with its science.

How, then, does salt do this? How does it ‘bring out’ a certain flavor in a food, especially if it’s already there? Here’s how: salt reduces our perception of bitterness.

Many foods naturally contain bitter-tasting compounds. But when salt is added, salt interferes with the taste receptors that detect bitterness, neutralizing the bitterness and allowing other flavors—like, what is sweet, savory, aromatic—to become more noticeable. That’s why…

Salt on dark chocolate (which is bitter) tastes richer.

Salt on grapefruit (which is bitter) becomes sweeter.

Salt on broccoli or asparagus (which are bitter) is a health-hack.

Salt mutes what is real and bitter… and amplifies what is real and sweet.

When Jesus calls His people “salt of the earth,” He is essentially saying, “In the same way, that’s you! As my disciple, that is your calling… there is real bitterness in the world… and your job is to neutralize that bitterness and amplify its natural glory and inherent beauty that is already there…”

3. Salt primes healing.

Back in biblical times, doctors and surgeons were not quite ‘cutting-edge,’ but they did know how to moderately dress cuts and wounds. For these situations, they commonly used salt to prime healing and prevent infection. Here’s how it worked:

Wounds were rarely feared, but infections always were. Where there moisture and water, there will be bacteria; and where there is bacteria, there can be infection.

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