Parables can be a real pain to the brain, but at the same time, Jesus tackles the issue quickly if you’re open to it. Solomon says in Proverbs 15: “…wisdom make knowledge acceptable,” that is, sometimes the way you say something makes all the difference. Jesus sometimes chose parables to tell us things that we need to understand.
The context of the parable in Matthew 5:13-16 is the Sermon on the Mount. The Beatitudes found in the introduction of the sermon are about kingdom thinking, or the Kingdom Ethic. The Kingdom Ethic is what directs our lives as followers of Jesus Christ. This is the: “Thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” type of thinking.
This first parable following the Beatitudes is about the practice of this Kingdom Ethic. It is about how Kingdom thinking is actually lived out. If I was to summarize the eight Beatitudes for you, it would be this: “I am not a god. I am a sinner. I am here to serve others by pursuing good. I am moved by compassion, committed to do the right thing before God, in peace, and without compromise.”
The purpose of the following parable can be summarized with one word: influence! How does one human being influence another? It was John Donne who said, “no man is an island.” We all have an influence on people, but we do it one at a time. Whether we admit it or not, we all have influence on something or someone and it’s either for good or for bad. We cannot live out the Kingdom Ethic in a private world. We cannot live our lives in splendid isolation.
In this parable, Jesus uses two metaphors to show how we, his followers, leave our “fingerprints” on the world around us. Some Christians think our job is to curse the darkness, but instead, Jesus has called us to light a candle.
It’s been said that most Christians have been educated beyond their level of obedience. We need to remember James’ admonishment to be “doers of the word and not merely hearers” (James 1:19-25).
