Mark 9:49-50 Fire and Salt

First Things: Devotions in Mark’s Gospel

Mark 9:49-50 Fire and Salt

Mark 9:49   “For everyone will be salted with fire. ⁵⁰ “Salt is good; but if the salt becomes unsalty, with what will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.

I wanted to take a little time with this rather strange ending to Mark 9 on fire and salt. The connection with what goes before probably links back to the reference to fire in v. 43. My view, then, is that, as fire has both a destructive and a purifying function, so does salt, and we ought to choose the latter over the former. This has application for more of the preceding context.

“Whoever causes one of these little ones to stumble” is in big trouble. It seems that his actions are clearly not a fruit of a personal or practical righteousness, and would serve as a denial that he was ever justified in the first place. His destiny, along with all others who are unjustified, or unsaved, is eternal punishment.

But fire isn’t always destructive. And so the Bible writers talk about being purified. Peter says that our faith will be tested by fire. Paul admits that some who are saved may have all of most of their work consumed, though they themselves will be saved. It seems that there is a recognition that, for many of us, our “fruit” is very inconsistent, and that a lot of what we do isn’t “fruit” at all, but much more “works,” done in our own strength and with our own resources, and therefore those works do not have an enduring, spiritual quality. This passage does not give us a green light to live this way, but rather serves as a warning to walk with the Lord in the power of the Spirit so that we might be instruments of grace.

Salt also can be destructive. It was spread on an enemies lands to make them unproductive for years to come. But it also introduces another meaning, in that salt that gets mixed with dirt loses saltiness and is then worthless. But salt can be preservative when used properly, and can be an effective flavoring or savor when used in measure. So, in our deportment and witness, are we destructive, or delightful?

“Salted with fire” is an interesting phrase. I think of using a grinding wheel to sharpen, for instance, a mower blade, and I see all the sparks that fly. They can hit the skin and you can feel them, but they do not destroy. Salted with fire. Or putting some salt on a wound hurts, though it is helpful. Salted with fire. And so God, in His grace, “salts with fire,” though God, in His mercy, provides a way, through faith in Christ, and then in our obedience that flows from this faith, in which we are spared the destructive forces of death and destruction.

The disciples, then, who earlier were arguing about who was going to be the greatest, or whether they should outlaw newcomers to the Jesus movement - they are warned that they are pursuing a wrong track, and that they, and we, ought to heed the warning. Walking with Jesus is not a path to personal greatness, nor is it an exclusive club in which the favor of God is to be hoarded for the few. Jesus’ final words, “be at peace with one another,” should be applied thoroughly and broadly in our lives.