Matthew 5:13-16

James Nisbet's Church Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 5:14

THE CITY ON THE HILL‘A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.’ Matthew 5:14 How strange and exaggerated such language must have sounded to that rude and rough company which first heard it. Some turned away. Yet it all came true. Those disciples who sat on the Mount did go forth, did mould and shape and change the whole face of the world. Consider text as a description of Christianity. I. The dominant idea contained in the metaphor. The city upon the hill is thrust upon the notice of all.... read more

James Nisbet

James Nisbet's Church Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 5:16

THE INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIAN LIFE‘Ye are the light of the world.… Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.’ Matthew 5:14; Matthew 5:16 These words contain, in an image at once as simple and as beautiful as Nature could supply, a description of Christianity, and of the manner in which it diffuses itself. I. God uses human agency.—For the conversion of the world to Himself God uses human agency. When the Almighty was... read more

Peter Pett

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 5:10-16

The Persecution of the Godly, And the Blessedness That Is Seen To Be Theirs As A Result. They Will Therefore Be Like The Prophets Of Old Who Were Also Persecuted, And Will Be The Salt Of The Earth And The Light Of The World (5:10-16). It will be noted that we have not included Matthew 5:10 in the above series of beatitudes, even though it appears to follow precisely the same pattern, and in spite of the fact that at first sight it appears to be the tail end of an inclusio made up of ‘theirs is... read more

Peter Pett

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 5:13

“You are the salt of the earth, But if the salt have lost its savour, With what will it be salted? It is from then on good for nothing, But to be cast out and trodden under foot of men.” ‘You are the salt of the earth.’ While these salts were sometimes used as fertiliser they were not very effective as such, and that idea is probably not intended here. The meaning rather is that the disciples are like salt among the people of the world, and the thought of its uniqueness is in mind. There is no... read more

Peter Pett

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 5:13-14

The Disciples Are The Salt Of The Earth (5:13-14). Jesus’ first declaration about His disciples is that they are the salt of the earth. And this is then followed by a grave warning. For it is possible for (Palestinian) salt to lose its savour. And then what will the result be? It will be fit for nothing but to be thrown away to become the equivalent of the dust under men’s feet. Analysis of Matthew 5:13-14 . a “You are the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13 a). b But if the salt have lost... read more

Peter Pett

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 5:13-16

Rather Than Deserving Reproach And Calumniation They Are to Be The Salt of the Earth and the Light of the World (5:13-16). Having commenced His sermon by revealing what the disciples are, by virtue of God’s active work within them (His ‘blessing)’, and having warned them against persecution as a consequence, in a similar way to the prophets, Jesus now explains the significance of it for them in the context of the world. They are present in the world in their new state as preserving salt and as... read more

Peter Pett

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 5:14

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. Nor do men light a lamp, and put it under the bushel measure, but on the stand, And it shines to all who are in the house. Even so let your light shine before men, That they may see your good works, And glorify your Father who is in heaven.” “You are the light of the world.” As we have seen the idea comes from the fact that Jesus Himself has come as a light into the world (Matthew 4:16; compare John 8:12). And the purpose of... read more

Arthur Peake

Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 5:13-17

Matthew 5:13-Haggai : . Mt. here brings together material ( a) found scattered in Lk., ( b) peculiar to himself. Matthew 5:13-Nehemiah : . Salt and Light.— Good men are not only rewarded in the coming age, they help the world now and save it from both insipidity and corruption. To appreciate the value of salt one must live in a land where it is rare, and much more highly prized than sugar. The second clause of Matthew 5:13 ( cf. Mark 9:50, Luke 14:34) was a current proverb; salt was... read more

Matthew Poole

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible - Matthew 5:13

In our Christian course we are not to trouble ourselves with what men say of us, and do unto us, but only to attend to our duty of holiness, and an exemplary life, which is what our Saviour presseth plainly, Matthew 5:16, and leads his hearers to it by four comparisons, which he institutes between them and four other things. The first we have in this verse, Ye are the salt of the earth: the doctrine which you profess is so, a thing as opposite as can be to the putrefaction of the world, both in... read more

Matthew Poole

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible - Matthew 5:14

You that are to be my apostles are so eminently, but all you that are my disciples are so also. Christ is the Light of the world John 1:4,John 1:9; but though the sun be the light of the world, yet it doth not follow that the moon and the stars also are not so: he is the original Light, the great Light who hath light from and in himself. The ministers of the gospel are the lights of the world also; the angels of churches are stars, Revelation 1:20, and holy persons are children of light, 1... read more

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