disciples

For the past few days, I've been using pray-as-you-go as one of my daily devotional readings (I'm also following a track that will have me read all of the Lutheran Confessions in a year). Today, they brought up what is, to me, one of the most frustrating passages of Scripture, Matthew 25 and the discussion of the sheep and the goats who were divided based on their treatment of "the least".

The thing about the passage that causes my frustration is that, "the least" is typically interpreted as the poor because they are hungry, thirsty, naked, imprisoned strangers. However, if we follow the logic there, then we are saved by our works (our treatment of the poor) rather than by grace through faith. So, in attempt to figure out what was going on here, I spent some time with the passage this afternoon.

The first thing I noticed is that these verses take place in an ongoing private discourse between Jesus and his disciples that begins in Matthew 24, where he is helping the twelve to understand the end of the age. This immediately causes problems with the "the least" being the poor because the full line says, "the least of these my brothers". That little pronoun creates an image of Jesus pointing to the very people who are the least which, in that context, would imply "the least" being the disciples, aka, Jesus brothers.

So, how could this be important in our understanding of works vs. faith in Matthew 25? Back in Matthew 10, Jesus sent his disciples out to share the faith. They were to go without extra food, clothing, or money, and visit various homes in the villages to see who would receive them and who wouldn't. In homes where they were received, they were to share the Gospel, and in homes where they weren't, they were to shake of their feet knowing that that place would be cursed on the day of judgment.

So, here's what I'm thinking. "The least" in Matthew 25 are actually the disciples who went into towns as strangers in need of food, water, and clothing. Those who received them are among the sheep, not because of their works, but because they were the ones who heard the good news. The goats on the other hand, are damned because they rejected the ones who brought the good news of Jesus (and this is their curse on judgment day). This also makes more sense with the visiting in prison line.

I know it challenges historic interpretation, but it makes a whole lot more sense in the broader Biblical picture. Thoughts?

The question came up in my comments on "don't do" evangelism about how should we go about doing evangelism. I figured I should offer a few thoughts over the next couple days looking at what the Bible does say about evangelism.

I'd say, when asked about a great evangelism text, most Christians would point to the Great Commission of Matthew 28:18-20 which reads: And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Now, I do agree that this is an evangelism text, however, I disagree that it tells us to do random "on the street type" evangelism, a belief I hold because of the grammatical structure of Christ's words.

Most people I know who are pro-random evangelism are huge on the word, "go" and they assume Christ is commanding his disciples (and us) to do just that. However, the original language tells us this is not the case. There is a command word, but it's not "go". Rather, Christ's command is to "make disciples" by means of "baptizing and teaching".

"Go" is just a participle which means it carries the forces of, "while you go" or "in your going". To paint a clearer picture, Christ and his disciples are up on this mountain and Jesus is getting ready to ascend into heaven. Before he does, he gives them one final bit of instruction on what they are to do once he's gone. Maybe he hoping to avoid the Acts 1 deal where they all stand there staring up into space, but he tells them that they have to leave the mountain and return to their lives. However as they do this, as they go, they are to "make disciples".

I think it's also important to notice how they go about doing the disciple making ... baptizing and teaching. Moreover, it's teaching everything that Christ commanded, something that's not going to happen on a street corner and something you won't be able to see happen with somebody you only know for 15 minutes. In other words, evangelism and discipleship have a relational element to them.