Many say that the least of these in Matthew 25 are the poor. There is good reason to think this is biblical theologically; after all, Proverbs 19:17 says that one who is gracious to the poor lends to the Lord, and the Lord will repay them. So certainly what we do for the poor God promises to reward.
But the point in the parable of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25 sees different from this. Granted, the “least” here are functionally poor, in that they have left much behind to bring the good news. But they are Christ’s ambassadors in a different way: messengers of his good news.
This is clear from the parallels with other passages in Matthew’s Gospel, as well as a major theme therein (e.g., 24:14; 28:19). That the nations will be judged by how they have received Jesus’s agents (Matt 25:31-46) suggests that the mission Matthew envisions continues to the end. The nations are judged by how they received Jesus’s brothers and sisters (25:40)—whom Jesus has already defined as his own followers (12:48-50; 23:8; cf. 28:10). Against some common interpretations, this passage likely refers to the church’s continuing mission until the end:
| Matthew 10 and elsewhere before Matt 25 | Matthew 25 |
| Good news about the kingdom must be preached among all nations before the end comes (24:14) | The nations are judged at the end (25:32) |
| If they give you even a cup of cold water (10:42) | The righteous fed and gave drink to Jesus’s representatives (25:35) |
| Whatever house takes you in (10:11-13) | The righteous took in Jesus’s representatives, though they were strangers (25:35) |
| Courts, beatings, persceution (10:16-22) | The righteous visited Jesus’s representatives when they were sick or in prison (25:36) |
| Whoever receives you receives me (10:40) | Whatever you did for my representatives, you did for me (25:40) |
| Jesus’s followers are his brothers and sisters (12:48-50) | My representatives are my brothers and sisters (25:40) |
| The wicked who do not receive Jesus’s representatives will be judged (10:14-15) | The wicked who did not receive Jesus’s representatives will be judged (25:41-46) |
