In Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘The Last Supper’, Judas Iscariot is seated two places to Jesus’ right (that is to the left of Jesus) holding a money bag and having just knocked over the salt, and it was no accident – not that Judas knocked it over intentionally but that it was painted knocked over on purpose. This is not at all likely since salt was very valuable and Judas would have taken all precautions to preserve it. It was Judas, after all, who complained that expensive perfume was ‘wasted’ on Jesus.

Why is the salt knocked over?

It is estimated there are more than 14,000 uses for salt today. From cooking and seasoning of food, to cleaning and health, from conditioning water to agriculture and deicing. So then what was Jesus talking about when He said, “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.” (Matthew 5:13)?

It’s safe to assume He didn’t mean we are the deicer of the world since he said being thrown under foot was the only use for salt that had lost its saltiness, although being humble and meek means many people will walk all over us…

The clue is in the phrase “if it has lost its taste”.  Certainly many uses for salt could be illustrative of the Christian life. Healing, preserving, cleaning, etc. But Jesus is speaking here about taste. We are the seasoning of the world. Paul wrote the the church in Colossi, “Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.” (Colossians 4:5-6)

But why is the salt knocked over?

You might say Judas wasn’t worth his salt. He lost his salt. Spilling the salt meant it could no longer be used to season the food. It was an indication that Judas had lost his saltiness, that he would betray Jesus. Judas is an example of losing the taste, but he is an extreme example, he is the only person who personally betrayed Jesus to death… except for Peter.

Peter denied Jesus with his words three times. Most likely speaking up (seasoned with salt) would not have changed Jesus’ fate, but Peter’s was a true betrayal. However, fear for his own life was not on the same level as actively selling Jesus out to the Jewish leaders. Peter did not lose his saltiness as Judas had.

What does this mean for Followers of Jesus today? Each of us is guilty of lesser betrayal of Jesus through action as well as inaction, in the words we say and those we fail to speak. How many times have we denied Jesus in our silence? How many times have we spoken without grace, without salt?

Maybe we should take Jesus’ words more seriously, a warning against losing our taste, our ability to season the gospel that we share with outsiders. It’s said you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink, but perhaps we can give a horse salt and it will find the water. We can’t be salty without speaking to the community we live in. But when we do speak, let’s always be careful to make our speech gracious, seasoned with salt…

Why is the salt knocked over? It was a warning to me that I must be the salt I want to see in the world. Paying attention to that valuable substance called grace and spreading it with my loving words lest I spill it out and become useless in God’s work to create a thirst for His water. My salt is what I say and do to reach outsiders to the Gospel. How are you making use of your saltiness?