We are used to the fact that deceit and malice act in our world through anyone at all, including through ourselves. But the Lord does not call His disciples to this. He wants them, that is, us, to be like salt, preserving the surrounding world from decay. Having peace within ourselves, bearing His presence within ourselves, we should sow this peace around us, as a candle pours a small but real light over the surrounding objects.

But if those who are called to be salt themselves bring hatred and temptation into the world? Who will be light for us if we do not shine? With what can salt be salted if all its taste has vanished? We are used to the fact that we are not saints. Where, then, is holiness to come from?

The closer the Crucifixion comes, the more time Jesus spends with His disciples. He speaks to them about the sufferings awaiting Him. But His disciples do not understand Him; they are thinking not about suffering and death, but about glory and privileges. This is where the argument comes from: "Who is greater? Who will receive more authority in the Kingdom of the Messiah?" John, in addition, seeks to protect the twelve disciples from competition on the part of "outsiders." At the same time, the boundary of "our own circle" is drawn by a very simple sign: "ours" are those who walk with us.

Christ rejects both attempts to build a pyramid of power and honors and the desire to turn the community of disciples into a closed club. He says directly to John: "Do not forbid him." Then He unexpectedly begins a conversation about the danger of stumbling blocks, ending it with the words: "Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another." Here one can see an echo of John's question and of the disciples' arguments about who is greater. The desire to separate "our own" from "outsiders," and to arrange "our own" by rank, destroys peace and makes people suspicious and hostile. Without peace among themselves, Christ's disciples cannot fulfill their mission in the world: to be "the salt of the earth" (Matt. 5:13). (Let us recall that every sacrifice was salted with salt before being offered to God on the altar (Lev. 2:13). Salt, as it were, made the sacrifice fit for God).

What does the word "stumbling block" mean? Other translations of this Greek word ("skandalon") are trap, snare, noose. It is everything that by deception, on the sly, pushes the simplehearted toward a fall or simply gets in the way and obstructs. Let us think about the extent to which the struggle for power, quarrels, and divisions among Christians serve as a stumbling block for "these little ones" and hinder those seeking the Truth from coming to saving faith.

According to the Law, sacrificial meat, before being placed on the altar, had to be salted. Salt became a symbol of purity and readiness for sanctification not by chance: it prevents spoilage and decay in many foods, including meat, just as the keeping of the commandments prevents the spiritual corruption of a person. But salt by itself is not enough for meat to become sacrificial: for this it must be sanctified by the presence of God that dwelt by the altar.

Jesus, however, compares His followers with sacrificial meat prepared for sanctification. The issue is life in that Kingdom which He brought into the world. It is impossible to enter this Kingdom without sanctification and transformation, and participation in its life takes place according to the measure of the fullness of such transformation. The breath of the Kingdom that accompanies the Christian on his spiritual path is sometimes called grace.

In the New Testament books Christians are usually called "saints" not by chance, meaning not righteousness as we understand the word today, but the fact of their sanctification as a result of belonging to the Kingdom. Sanctification was always regarded in the early Christian church as a distinguishing feature of Christians. And the Savior speaks of the same thing: a Christian cannot fail to be ready for sanctification; if he loses this readiness, he is no longer a Christian.

Salt that has lost its strength is something utterly incredible. Salt does not lose its properties under any circumstances; it can only become unnoticeable if its concentration, for example in a solution, is too small. Salt that has lost its strength is no longer salt, and most likely it was not salt from the very beginning. The same is true of a Christian: a Christian who does not desire sanctification, who does not seek the life of the Kingdom, is not a Christian at all. Most likely such a person never was a Christian, having come to the Church by mistake or through misunderstanding. For Christianity is not a new religion and not a new morality, but a new life.