|
by
Doug Ward |
An enigmatic saying of Jesus is recorded in Mark 9:49: "For everyone will
be salted with fire."
This
is a striking image. Imagine a salt shaker being shaken over your head and fire
coming out of it.
Understandably,
Mark 9:49 has raised many questions. In fact, sometime in the early centuries
of Christianity, someone added an explanatory clause to the verse: "and
every sacrifice will be salted with salt." The extra clause is not in the
oldest manuscripts of Mark, so modern translations (NRSV and ESV, for example)
relegate it to a footnote. However, we do not necessarily have to remove the
clause from translations that include it, like the KJV. After all, God may have
inspired the addition.
The
additional clause points the way to one interpretation of Jesus's saying by referring
to Lev 2, which describes ancient Israel's grain offerings. A grain offering
included fine flour mixed with oil and (for the uncooked ones) frankincense.
Salt was also included, as we read in verse 13: "You shall season all your
grain offerings with salt. You shall not let the salt of the covenant with your
God be missing from your grain offering; with all your offerings you shall
offer salt."
Grain
offerings involved both salt and fire. A portion (including all of the
frankincense, which is not edible) was burned on the altar. The rest was used
in providing bread for the priests.
The
Hebrew word for a grain offering is mincha, a word that more broadly
refers to a tribute or gift showing reverence or submission-for example, a gift
brought to a king. The present that Jacob prepared for Esau at the time of
their reunion (Gen 32:13) was a mincha. One presenting this kind of
offering showed dependence upon and loyalty to God, acknowledging him as King.
The
salt in the grain offering is called "the salt of the covenant" in
Lev 2:13. Salt symbolized permanence-see Num 18:19. When you made a grain
offering, you were pledging a lasting commitment to the covenant.
The
part of the offering that was burned was called the memorial portion. It asked
God to remember the covenant, to act on the offeror's behalf. Prayers would
have accompanied the offering, perhaps a prayer like Psalm 86.
Salt
was also used in other offerings. In animal sacrifices at the Temple, salt was
put into a carcass to soak out the blood. The salt had a purifying effect. On
the purity of salt, see Ex 30:35, which refers to the special incense for the
tabernacle as "an incense blended as by the perfumer, seasoned with salt,
pure and holy."
Now
in one reading of Mark 9:49, "everyone" can refer to all of Jesus'
disciples. They are salted, implying that they are sacrifices. This is a
familiar New Testament motif. Think of Rom 12:1, where Paul calls upon
Christians to be "living sacrifices." Another example is Eph 5:2,
which refers to Jesus' death as "a fragrant offering and sacrifice to
God" and calls upon Christians to imitate him.
This
was one of Jesus' messages to his disciples in this part of the Gospel of Mark.
In Mark 8:34-35, Jesus said, " If anyone would come after me, let him deny
himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life
will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save
it."
We
can think of each disciple as a mincha-a gift to the King, dependent
upon and loyal to God. So, each disciple is precious, as Jesus expressed in
Mark 9:42.
How
does the fire fit in? It could be the fire of the Holy Spirit. At Pentecost the
Spirit came upon the disciples in "tongues as of fire" (Acts 2:3).
Salt enhances the flavor of meat and purifies a carcass. The Spirit sets us
apart and dedicates us to God. The salting with fire could mean receiving the
fire of the Spirit.
The
fire could also be the fire of suffering and persecution, which has a purifying
effect (see 1 Peter 1:6-7; 4:12-16). Mark 9:49 could be about the nature of
discipleship, which can involve suffering for Jesus' sake. We are purified with
the fire of the Spirit and the fire of suffering. We are sacrifices dedicated
to God.
There
is another entirely different interpretation of Mark 9:49 based on the fact
that in Hebrew, to "salt" something can mean to completely destroy
it. Judges 9:45 gives one example. When Abimelech attacked Shechem, "he
captured the city and killed the people who were in it, and he razed the city
and sowed it with salt." Sowing a city with salt was a symbolic action
signifying that nothing was to grow from that soil again.
This
kind of interpretation of Mark 9:49 fits well with the preceding verses in Mark
9. Verses 43-48 give a warning that one should not let a recurring sin prevent
one from entrance into the kingdom of God. In this reading,
"everyone" in verse 49 would mean everyone who is thrown into the
fires of hell, and being "salted with fire" would mean being
completely destroyed in hell.1
These
two different interpretations of Mark 9:49 both emphasize the importance of how
we respond to Jesus. Will we be totally committed to him and be salted by the
purifying fire of the Spirit and suffering? Or will we reject him and be salted
by the fire of destruction? The two interpretations highlight these two
options.
1See
Weston W. Fields, " `Everyone Will Be Salted with Fire' (Mark 9:49),"
Grace Theological Journal 6 (1985), pp 299-304.
File
translated from TEX by TTH,
version 3.66.
On 17 Dec 2021, 17:47.
