Mark 9:38-50
How much salt did you have? I was quite surprised, or perhaps, more disappointed when
I took a dietetics class in university and found out that high intake of salt is responsible for high
blood pressure and other related diseases. I myself like to put salt on my French fries and many
other foods, it enhances the flavor. Salt IS good, and Jesus tells us to have salt in ourselves. What
does he mean? Certainly this along with those verses on self-mutilation would be quite
troublesome if we take everything literalistically. If we do, all Christians will have high blood
pressure, and we should all be blind, maimed, and crippled. There were actually some Christians
who did understand this passage this way. It’s a good thing that we will all be restored with a
glorified body, probably without any defects and such.
In any case, Jesus is not just telling us to have salt, but also to have peace with one
another. This is really the point or the goal of this passage, peace with God means peace with one
another and salt is the key. The disciples of course did not understand. John the youngest among
the 12, acted just like the young Joshua with Moses. Was John being jealous for Jesus’ sake? Or
was he jealous for his own pride and selfishness? Perhaps a little of both. The 12 no doubt
formed that inner circle, especially John, James, and Peter. It is not a surprise that they would
develop this exclusive elitism mindset, thinking that they are somehow special and only they had
the right of doing things in Jesus’ name.
They do not understand. Pride often takes over our minds and hearts. To have Jesus’
name is not a right that we can claim and grab and hog for ourselves, but it’s a privilege, a gift,
an abundant gift that is shared by all who have that name sealed upon their foreheads. The word
“church” in the Greek means “to be called out”, but that does not mean that somehow we are
more special than the rest of the population. We are called out only by grace and if we truly
understand what grace means, then pride has nothing to claim.
But even so, we find this exclusivism and elitism within Christendom. It has happened
within Lutheran churches and still happens today in other churches as well. Throughout history,
various church bodies have claimed that they are the only true church on earth and everyone else
not belonging to them will go to hell. Such claims are dangerous and even against scriptures, for
what is that one prerequisite to be a child of God, to enter the kingdom of God? It is faith in
Jesus Christ who died and rose again for our justification. That is what makes us right with God,
not the earthly membership of a church per se.
Yes indeed we the confessional Lutheran church can claim to be the only true visible
church on earth (if we don’t believe what we teach to be absolutely correct according to
scriptures, why would you still come here except maybe out of convenience?) We have right
doctrine, but that is not to boost our pride, but rather right doctrine increases our confidence in
the word of God. We believe that our church, the Lutheran church, is faithful to the bible, while
others may still err in some area but that does not mean they will end up in hell. These churches
may have their own errors, they may not be following us, in the Reformation theology, but they
still have the name of Christ, they are still justified by grace through faith, whether they be
Baptists, Pentecostals, Reformed, or whatever group they may be.
So then are we to have full fellowship with one another? Notice that Jesus doesn’t say
that. We are to have peace, we are not to quarrel and fight over who is the greatest, or who has
the right be the true believers and followers of Christ. The oneness is achieved through the one
lord, one faith, one baptism, as Paul says in Ephesians, and also as we often confess in the
creeds: I believe in the one holy Christian and apostolic church. By virtue of Christ and his work,
we are 1 already. This is something to be “believed” not necessarily “actualized” or “realized”.
There is only 1 family, 1 body in Christ. But what is addressed here is the pride that cuts the
others away from the faith, away from the one body of Christ. The English often translate verses
42 to 47 as “causing someone to sin”, but the Greek word there means more than just sinning. It
means “to cause to stumble or fall” and it usually describes a person who falls from the faith, or
to stop believing. To cause someone to sin is certainly not a good thing to do, but to cause
someone to lose faith is a far more serious matter. This stumbling is not only for the little ones,
but all who believe in Jesus. So serious that Jesus says it’s better to cut off your arms and feet
lest you be cut off from the larger body, the body of Christ. If in our pride, we cause others to
stumble and fall because they are not following us, not part of this church, or if we deny people
of their faith simply because they are not Lutheran, then it is better for us to cut ourselves off.
And how many body parts can you cut off before you can stop this pride and arrogance?
To this then, Jesus enjoins us to have salt. Salt throughout the bible has many different
usages and meaning, but here when described with fire, a person who is familiar with the Old
Testament, especially if you are a Jew, you would immediately think of the grain offering in
Leviticus 2. The grain offering is not only cooked and presented to the priests with a portion to
be burned to God, but the offering must be seasoned with salt. This salt is called the salt of the
covenant. It signified the everlasting covenant between God and his people. What does this have
to do with us since we are NT believers, sacrifices and offering have been done away with?
Indeed, sacrifices and burnt offerings are no longer needed only because of that ultimate
sacrifice that established an everlasting covenant with us. It is to see the lamb of God, the
innocent one has already suffered on our behalf, as a sinner. The most holy God was cut, not his
arms and feet, but he was cut off from the land of the living, as we heard a couple of weeks ago
from Jeremiah, the gentle lamb led to the slaughter. Why would he do that? Was there
“something” in man that should move God do such a horrible thing to his own son, but it was
because of that “something” was in God. He had compassion, he loved the unloveable, he was
merciful though we deserved death and hell, and he was gracious though we did not deserve
anything from him.
This is the salt, the covenant of God, that he would save his people through the death of
his only begotten son. It preserves us just like how we preserve foods with salt, only except that
this will last for eternity.
This salt also involves faith, for apart from faith, trust, and belief in this covenant, it does
you no good. And it is not just an acknowledgement as James would condemn in his letter. To
have salt and to have this sacrifice of Jesus means we have peace with God, there is no longer
enmity, separation, or barrier between us. And this also extends to our fellow brothers and
sisters. And so, to be at peace with one another is achieved through the sacrifice of Christ. It is
not that Christ now becomes our example and we strive to imitate and be like our teacher. That’s
not how it happens, rather, peace from God comes to us through that sacrifice. The peace of God
not only comforts our inner strife and struggles, but it also humbles our hearts so that outer strife
and struggle with our neighbors are also calmed. This is what God does in our hearts, he helps us
see that all who bear the name of Jesus are brothers and sisters, all belonging to the same family,
even if they do not belong to the same church here on earth. This is what Jesus means to have
salt and at peace with one another. It is to have Christ and be in his body with one another.
Salt is good, but can it lose its saltiness? Yes, if we are talking about our own efforts in
bringing a right and acceptable sacrifice to God. But the salt that we have comes from Jesus, the
perfect sacrifice from the God who changes not. Therefore as we are seasoned by God, as he
preserves us in this everlasting covenant, we can be assured that ultimately, it is God who is at
work. For the peace we have with one another is through the fact that we have one lord, one
faith, one baptism, which are all effected through Jesus. And so when we encounter other
Christians from other churches, though we may disagree with them on theological and doctrinal
grounds, we remember also that we have the same lord, that we have all been baptized in the
same name, and we have these because of the same faith in Jesus. Because the Christian life is a
life IN VIEW OF the end, the very end, it is to see that finally one day, we will all be standing
together worshiping the same God. And so for now, for our present age, have salt in yourselves,
have Jesus, the one who was cut off for you.