Persecuted, Salt, Light

Jesus begins the sermon on the mount with the Beatitudes, which are phrased in third person: Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the kingdom; blessed are those . . . , for they. That continues through verse 10.

Then Jesus basically repeats verse 10, but with a grammatical shift. “Blessed are those who have been persecuted” becomes “blessed are you when men cast insults at you, and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely. . . your reward in heaven is great.” The disciples are not explicitly addressed as poor in spirit, or mourners, or meek, or pure of heart, or peacemakers. Surely they are called to be such, if they want to share Jesus’ benediction. But they are explicitly said to be among the blessed persecuted. The grammatical shift cannot mean anything else. Jesus is not merely saying, “Blessed are you if you happen to be insulted, persecuted, slandered.” The grammatical shift shows that the disciples (whoever they are) will be persecuted.

This shift to second person address that begins in verse 11 continues through verse 16. Jesus doesn’t simply described His disciples as salt and light. He first describes them as persecuted, and then as salt and light. 

We can perhaps see this as a sequence: First persecuted; because persecuted, salt; because savory salt, light. Persecution makes them salty, but they are vindicated and elevated as light – so long as they don’t lose their savor. Even if that sequence overreads the passage, the grammar shows that for Jesus these three are interlocked: persecution for His Name, being salt of the earth, and being the city of light on a hill.