When Jesus speaks, his voice caresses the soul with imperatives; he always uses them to assure the crowd that God the Father is always attentive, and his love is constantly flowing. His imperatives don’t pontificate; instead, they offer life, with an unassailable embrace.
He tells the crowd: You are the salt and the light, instinctively preserving life, opposing decay and ensuring longevity. Thus, Jesus wants a “disciple-light” who caresses life every day and reveals the beauty of people, one whose eyes radiate loving respect for every living being.
You are the salt; you have the task of preserving what is valuable and deserves to endure in the world, while opposing what corrupts, by making people taste the good flavor of life. You are the light of the world. This is a surprising statement.
Scripture has a prophetic voice calling us out of darkness and into the light. We were never created to harbor darkness that leads to self-destruction, but to exude healing, forgiveness, and light.
We believe that God is light but wants the human to have light as well; imperatively God orders that I am light, and you are light, despite our limitations and our shadows; it’s shockingly beautiful.
And we already are light if we breathe the Gospel: light is the natural gift of those who have breathed God. Those who live according to the Gospel are a handful of light thrown in the face of the world.