The Sermon on the Mount, Part IV of XL

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TEXT: Continuing, with Mt. 5:

12. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you.

COMMENTARY: Jesus knew the history of true "prophets," or representatives of Love. He knew that every spiritual genius had been disowned, mocked, rejected, and violently resisted. Many had been driven out of town, and some even killed.

TEXT:

13. "You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trodden under foot by men.

COMMENTARY: Salt was as valuable as gold in ancient times. Our English word "salary" comes from the Latin for "salt," and Roman soldiers were often paid in salt, as a form of money. So, we are as valuable to God (Love-nature) as gold, or money. Why are we so valuable? It is because we can serve as "vessels" for Love on earth. If we stop loving, however, we lose our value ("saltness").

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