When Jesus had completed his well-known Sermon on the Mount, extolling before a gathering of followers the virtues of humility, patience in suffering, kindness, mercy, the love of goodness, purity of heart, a peaceful spirit, and a willingness to suffer for the sake of righteousness, He addressed his disciples with a challenge:

You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its essence as salt, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world…. Let your light shine before others, that they may see the good that you do and give glory to God….

Have you ever wondered what Jesus meant by this didactic image of “salt?” At first blush it does seem an odd metaphor. When I was young, a long time ago, people often said of a departed person that he was “the salt of the earth.” But that just meant that the fellow was affable—a nice guy. So, what did Jesus really mean by likening his disciples to salt?

In the First Century, when Christ walked the earth, salt had a number of important functions beyond merely enhancing the flavor of food. It was a preservative, keeping what was wholesome and good from decaying into rot and corruption. As such, amongst the Hebrews it was also a symbol of purity and cleansing, and was often included in sacrificial offerings. But most importantly, salt in the time of Christ was a symbol of covenant, a public sign of the giving of persons to each other in a sacred and irrevocable bond. It represented the permanence and incorruptibility of that commitment. That is why people once threw salt at weddings, and likely why they no longer do so. But in ancient times, when people wished to establish an enduring covenant between themselves, each blended his salt with that of the other to signify and seal their eternal promise.

Jesus had already taught his followers the requirements of Godly righteousness, and what it would cost them to take up their crosses and follow him. But in that sermon, He was emphasizing to them the New Covenant He was about to institute in his blood, and outlining for them what their participation in that Covenant would require.

Be humble (poor in spirit), He told them. Recognize that all you have and accomplish is by the grace of God.

Mourn and repent with honest spiritual sorrow the evil in the world, and in particular the evil you yourself have wrought.

Be meek—kind and gentle yet firm in truth and justice, showing a love toward others equal to your love of self—even as they oppose you.

Hunger and thirst for righteousness, first in yourself and then in this fallen world.

Be merciful, as you would have mercy from your Father.

Be pure of heart, without hypocrisy or guile and with a single-minded devotion to the will of God.

Be peacemakers—strive to reconcile conflicts and bring people together out of disagreement through empathy and understanding without violence.

And lastly, be willing to suffer for the sake of God and his goodness even, if necessary, unto death.

These were hard sayings at the time, before modern apologists had taken pains to soften them. No resentment! No revenge! No self-aggrandizement! No equivocating before the truth! Who can commit to such demands? They meant that, as Jesus put it, each one of us must “take up our cross,” joyfully surrendering our dreams and desires in favor of God’s calling. They meant that we must commit to a willing obedience even when every wicked urging of our flesh cries out to be gratified. As our savior put it on the night before He was crucified, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; still, not my will but thine be done.”

I am a flawed and sinful human being, as are most of us. In all the world, as of yesterday, there was but one well-known living man I could point to as a nearly perfect fulfillment of that Covenant—that share in his own life – which Jesus has offered us. There was only one public person who was always humble in giving glory to God, always charitable and kind in his dealings with adversaries, and always willing to speak truth, even to the malevolent power of that mob crying out through all the ages for the unleashing of Barabbas. Until that mob crucified him. And now he is gone. Charlie Kirk was truly the salt of the earth. Requiescat in pacem!