Luke 14:34-35 34Therefore, salt is good, but if salt becomes tasteless, how can its saltiness be restored? 35It is unfit either for the soil or for the manure pile; it is thrown away. The one who has ears to hear, let him hear.
Luke’s version of this well known statement from the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:13 is a bit creative by several word choices. In Matthew’s version, Jesus directly addresses the listening disciples with “you are salt” plural. Jesus in Luke is descriptive of salt as an illustration. Both passages focus on salt losing its saltiness and taste. Salt as a chemical compound does not lose its flavor but can be combined with other things to become weaker in taste. For example, if there is too much salt in a food, more water can be added to dilute the strength of the salt. Some of the salt collected in Israel during that time was polluted with dirt and other elements and not “pure” like the refined salt we might get at a grocery store today. Salt from the Dead Sea contained carnallite or gypsum and could become bad if not processed well.
Bad salt that has been polluted or diluted is no longer useful for its purpose of flavor or preservation. The only way to restore the salt would be to remove the impurities, which would not have been an easy thing in the ancient world. Both Matthew and Luke note the uselessness of such impure salt. Matthew notes that it can only be thrown out on the path. Israel does not get much snow, but in places where there is snow and ice, salt on a path can be very helpful. But in that context, being trampled under feet was about the most useless thing to do with something. Luke is more descriptive by recording that the salt cannot be used as a fertilizer or even the dung heap. Such bad salt would ruin the soil and the fertilizer to grow a good crop. It can only be thrown away.
The key point of this short parabolic saying gets its meaning from the previous context about counting the cost of following Jesus. Disciples cannot dilute their commitment to Jesus. They must be “all in.” Those who are not committed are like unsalty salt. They accomplish nothing for God’s kingdom and actually can be a hindrance to the growth of other people. Committed disciples are like salt that penetrates and flavors the world around them.
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