On a mountainside in Galilee, right after teaching the Beatitudes, Jesus told His disciples, “Ye are the salt of the earth.” Salt flavored and preserved food, and it was part of covenant offerings. But salt that lost its savour was good for nothing and was thrown out onto the road.
“Ye are the light of the world,” He continued. A city on a hill can’t be hidden, and no one lights a lamp and then covers it with a basket; they set it on a stand so it lights the whole house. “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”
Who’s who
Jesus Christ: the Teacher, and the light we hold up
His disciples: ordinary people He called salt and light
The multitude: listening on the mountainside
Where and when
A mountainside near the Sea of Galilee, during the Sermon on the Mount.
Eight stops from a bowl of salt to a sunrise. Scroll, or tap a number on the map.
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The story, plainly
Four scenes: the mountainside, the city, the lamp, and the street. Look for the Savior in each one.
Read it plainly
The words that trip people up
Tap any dotted word for its meaning. The scripture stays exactly as written.1
Matthew 5:13“if the salt have lost his Meaning: flavor, saltiness.”
Matthew 5:13“it is Meaning: from then on. good for nothing”
Matthew 5:13“Meaning: walked on. under foot of men”
Matthew 5:15“light a Meaning: a small clay oil lamp.”
Matthew 5:15“under a Meaning: a basket used to measure grain.”
Matthew 5:15“but on a Meaning: a lamp stand.”
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Look closer
Small details tell the story. Some cards are details in the text; others share insights from Church leaders, Church resources or outside sources. Each card says which.
0 of 9 turned
All nine. The salt, the fish, the road, the lamp, the city, the basket, the stand, the hands and the sky. Matthew 5:13–16
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Where are you?
Lost my savour, hiding, not sure I shine, or shining. Which feels most like you right now?
A next step for you
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Try it
What is it for?
Jesus used everyday things to teach who His disciples are. Tap each card to see what He said, then write how you will shine.
“Let your light so shine before men.” Matthew 5:16
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Their world, their words
A little background on salt and lamps helps His words come alive. Outside sources are labeled.
Church resource · Student manual
Salt and covenants
Salt “was added to sacrificial offerings under the law of Moses. Thus salt was associated with joy, permanence, and covenant making.”4
Covenant people are salt.
Church resource · Asay
How salt loses savor
Elder Carlos E. Asay: “Salt will not lose its savor with age. Savor is lost through mixture and contamination.”4
Stay pure.
Modern scripture · Doctrine and Covenants 101
Accounted as salt
Those who “covenant with an everlasting covenant” are “accounted as the salt of the earth and the savor of men.”2
Covenants make us salt.
Book of Mormon · 3 Nephi 12
At Bountiful too
The risen Savior told the Nephites, “I give unto you to be the light of this people.”3
Same teaching, another continent.
Word study · Greek
mórainó μωραίνω · “lost his savour” (Matthew 5:13)
Bible Hub: “to be foolish,” and Strong’s adds “lose savor.”7Outside · lexicon
Salt that goes flat is, literally, foolish salt. A disciple who loses savour has forgotten what he is for.1
Word study · Greek
modios μόδιος · “bushel” (Matthew 5:15)
Bible Hub: “a dry measure of one peck.”8Outside · lexicon
A household basket for measuring grain. Put over a lamp, it would hide the flame.1
What the text does not say
Jesus doesn’t tell them to try to become salt someday, or to hope they might shine later. He says “Ye are.” And He doesn’t say to shine so people will praise us. The light is so they will “glorify your Father which is in heaven.”1
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Look to Him
He is the light we hold up. Our good works point to Him and to the Father.
“If it is not clean, do not think it; if it is not true, do not speak it; if it is not good, do not do it.”
Elder Carlos E. Asay, quoted in the student manual4
“Salt is made of two elements bonded together. We can’t be salt on our own; if we are to be salt of the earth, we must be bonded to the Lord.”
Everything on this page as a 11-page letter-size PDF: the map, scenes, cards, activity, word studies, tracker, Go deeper and sources. For home, class or a quiet Sunday.
Salt and Light is part of the Scripture Story Sketch Notes for the New Testament, set alongside Come, Follow Me for February 8–14, 2027 (Matthew 5; Luke 6).
Independent study notes from Weak Things, not an official publication of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Scripture quotations are from the King James Version. The words are in Matthew 5:13–16; the insights in “Look closer” are labeled by source.
