The seminary students went out in teams of two with a local believing interpreter to share Christ in a large Asian city. They were essentially following the model of Matthew 10 where Jesus sent the disciples out; the students were a bit nervous because they had never done this before. One team of three hired a taxi to take them to a neighborhood and when they arrived, the taxi driver asked to go with them and drive them all day. They were invited into several homes that day, given tea and cookies, and after brief introductions shared the gospel in each home, usually for an hour or more. Several people came to faith and asked to be baptized. The next morning the taxi driver called them early and asked if he could drive them again. When he arrived, he asked if they could come to his house first so his whole family could hear the message he had heard several times the previous day. That morning he and his whole family believed, renounced their idols, and asked for baptism in order to follow Jesus.
It is my conviction that the Bible not only leads us to join God’s mission to the nations, it tells us how! That makes the topic of this post all the more critical – a misinterpretation of Scripture that leads to a tragic loss in Great Commission focus. And yes, this misinterpretation is widespread in SBC circles. That includes pastors and leaders who preach this message, many of the younger generation who want missions to be primarily humanitarian, mission teams who are timid to share their faith, and even large fellowships of churches within the SBC who have decided this is their mission mantra.
I am talking about the popular misunderstanding of “the least of these” which guides a growing percentage of Christian mission efforts. The common interpretation of Christ’s words in Matt 25:31-46 is that we should help those in need and in the process we minister to Jesus himself. Our eternal judgment is based on such humanitarian action; failure to help means rejection of Jesus.
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the Kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat . . . ‘
The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’” (Matt 25:31-41)
Certainly, Jesus wants us to help others as prescribed in the Law and in his teachings, but that is simply not the message of Matt 25 and we miss the important lesson he intended by misinterpreting it. This misconception also leads to theological confusion and mission ineffectiveness. Among Christians in general, this misinterpretation has undermined Great Commission focus globally for at least 100 years.
This interpretation simply does not hold up to a careful reading of the passage, specifically in the context of the Olivet Discourse (chaps 24-25) and the rest of Matthew.
- Jesus dramatically describes the moment he will judge all men and nations. As we saw in the first post, he says that “all the nations” will be gathered before his throne. New Testament scholars emphasize that we cannot interpret this passage without seeing it in the context of Matt 24:9, 14 and Matt 28:18-20. The four panta tha ethne passages are describing the same purpose of God. The judgment of the world is directly tied to the mission to take the risk to declare Jesus as king to the whole world and make disciples. In fact, the core theme of chapters 24 and 25 is that we must be faithfully doing His will in order to be ready for His coming. The popular interpretation just does not fit the mission Jesus defines in these passages and has been used to justify doing far less.
- Jesus said the recipients of the help that determines judgment are “the least of these my brothers.” “These” indicates he was talking about someone right there at that moment. Jesus specified that “my brothers” in Matthew always refers to the disciples who have joined in his mission (12:50; 28:10). Even “the least of” is reminiscent of 18:1-4 where Jesus says his followers must be humble little ones. So, the recipients of help Jesus is talking about are now any needy person, but his own humble disciples who have joined in his mission.
- The most striking statement in the passage is “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” What a radical idea, but this is not the first time it appears in Matthew. In Matt 10:40 Jesus stated, “He who receives you, receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me.” Matt 10 contains the directions that Jesus gave his disciples when he first sent them on mission. They are to go out and look for someone who invites them into their home, feeds and gives them drink. They are not to carry extra clothes and will face courts and persecution. If they are not invited in or their message is rejected, they are to move on to the next place.
Matt 25 includes a formulaic repetition of six actions the nations must take to be judged as sheep. It is guidance on how the nations receive the messengers! They give food and drink, take them in, give them clothes, help when they are sick, and visit them in prison. Jesus repeats these six actions in exact sequence four times, and it is no coincidence that these actions match up exactly with the needs of his messengers. The nations must act in step with the manner in which the disciples are sent out. As a result of taking the messengers in, they hear the message of Life. The disciples are reminded that their faithfulness determines the fate of families and nations.
So, this passage is not advocating for humanitarian work as the core task of the mission of Jesus, although it can facilitate gospel sharing. It is a challenge to the sent ones to faithfully engage in proclaiming Jesus as King despite the risks and for the purpose of making disciples. The most important human interaction on earth and the most significant act in our lives is to tell someone who does not know about Jesus. We must make sure that we humbly approach those who do not know about Christ. When the nations accept the messengers, we are responsible to faithfully declare the message that brings life.
The passage is also an unusually stark warning to the nations – they must take in common, humble messengers in order to meet the Savior, the King of Kings. Their welcome or rejection of the messengers has eternal consequences for their family and their people.
Don Dent is an Emeritus IMB missionary and Senior Professor of Missions at Gateway Seminary. He studied at Mississippi College, GGBTS with Baker James Cauthen, and Malaysia Baptist Theo. Seminary where he earned the Doctor of Missiology with Mark Terry. His daughter, Chesed, and son, Rob, both work to extend missions to the nations. He is the author of The Ongoing Role of Apostles in Missions and the recently published Finding Direction to Redeem the Nations. Don loves reading non-fiction, hunting, and since moving in 2023 to MS from CA is looking for an alternative to kayak shark fishing in the Pacific.