“Love your neighbor” is the most misused Scripture of this decade, but another commonly misused text is Matthew 25:40, “the least of these.” Allie Stuckey, a Blaze Media podcaster who is among the leading Christian women in media, set off a controversy applying Matthew 25:40 in a modern context.
Allie Stuckey refers to believers like Jack Phillips as “the least of these” referencing elsewhere his recent victory against the lawfare waged against him for his faith in Colorado.
Such a take went viral despite the lack of novelty to Stuckey’s exegesis. That did not stop liberals and even some orthodox from going after her.
This is COMPLETELY made up. There were no Christians when Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”
— Zach W. Lambert (@ZachWLambert) October 12, 2024
Followers of Jesus were first called “Christians” at Antioch in Acts 11 at least 12 years after… pic.twitter.com/RbTPuCtXSU
In a Comic Book Guy level retort, gay-affirming pastor Zach Lambert replies that there were no Christians when Jesus was alive. The word Christian being coined later does not mean the concept didn’t exist but that’s too much thinking for Lambert.
Honest Youth Pastor was a more surprising counter-signaler to many. He called it “bad exegesis” to believe that “least of these” was referring to Christians. He apologized and walked back the novelty of Stuckey’s claim while maintaining that she was somehow unclear.
The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’
Because Jesus says “brothers,” Christians have interpreted this passage to mean fellow believers, particularly those of lower status or who are being persecuted in the faith. Most of the commentaries on Bible Hub affirm this view, as espoused by Stuckey.
So despite liberal naysayers, Stuckey’s view is not only mainstream, it’s also the most clear meaning of brethren in the text.
Allie Stuckey applied this text to not voting for Democrats, and that is the real reason people are mad, not because of exegesis.
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