WWUTT 1930 Q&A Who Are the Least of These?

What did Jesus mean when he said, that which you have done to the least of these brothers of mine you have done unto me? Was he talking about all of the marginalized in society, or that which we do to our brothers and sisters in the Lord?

The answer, when we understand the text.

Program Introduction and the Question About Matthew 25:40

This is When We Understand the Text, a daily Bible commentary that we may be equipped for every good work in Jesus Christ our Lord. Please tell others about our ministry at www .utt .com. Here once again is Pastor Gabe.

Thank you, Becky.

In Galatians chapter 6 verses 9 and 10, we read the following. And let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

Hold on to that thought, because I'm going to come back to it in just a moment. This is the Friday edition of When We Understand the Text, when we respond to questions from the listeners. And you can submit those questions to whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com.

I'm flying solo this week because I've had to record a lot of these devotionals in advance. We're presently on the road. We're on vacation. So I still wanted to be able to provide you some devotionals, but Becky wasn't able to join me at the time that I was recording all of these.

God willing, she'll be back on with me on Friday, here in a couple of weeks. On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, we've been doing New Testament study, which is in the Sermon on the Mount. And we're going to continue this next week by finishing up the Beatitudes, and also reading about what it means to be salt and light.

Thursday, in our Old Testament study, I've been reading from Isaiah. But this coming Thursday, I want to do a Part 1 and 2 on Wednesday and Thursday. So I'm going to put the Isaiah study on hold, and that will resume the week following.

While I'm on the road here, I'm going to be preaching in Garden City, Kansas. It's been a long time since I've preached in southwest Kansas. I think the last time was either 2018 or 2019. It's been a little while.

So it feels like coming home. I love coming back to western Kansas. So if you're around the Garden City area, and you don't have a church to worship in this coming Sunday, maybe come join us at New Life Community Church on North Campus Drive there in Garden City.

Church starts at 930. We'd love to see you there if you can make it. I'm sure they'd love to have some visitors this Sunday. After that, we're going to head west to Colorado. My kids have never seen the Rocky Mountains before, so we're going to spend some time in the mountains thanks to a friend of mine who has a cabin up there and has loaned that to us, so we appreciate the chance to be able to get away.

I'm not even going to have a signal up there. It's going to be great. No one can get a hold of me by phone, and I'm not even going to be tempted to look at Twitter or check my email or something like that.

We will just be out in the wilderness. Pray for us. I don't know how good I'm going to do so disconnected from technology. It's been a long time since I've been that disconnected from everything. Don't forget we're also heading to G3.

That's not on this road trip. That's in September. The G3 conference is going to be in Atlanta. What is going to have a booth there in addition to all the great speakers that you can hear and connect with some great Christian brothers and sisters?

To find out more information about this conference, go to G3MIN .org. You'll find a whole list of events that are on there, not just the conference that's coming up in September, but also the various expository workshops that are done all over the country.

You'll want to regularly visit that page and keep up to date with things that G3 is doing because if one of those expository conferences comes near to you, I would highly recommend going to that. They're often very small.

In fact, we have to cap it at a certain number. I don't think we ever exceed 90. Sometimes it's only about 40 or 50 people that end up attending those because that's the most number of teachers that we're able to get.

Kind of hard to explain how that works, but we have to have teachers for each small group that we have for those expository conferences. If we don't have enough teachers, well, we have to cap the registration at a certain amount.

But those expository workshops are terrific for helping you understand how to read and even teach, communicate the Bible to somebody else. Now, we tend to target pastors with those expository workshops because we're teaching pastors how to be more effective in their preaching.

But I've had men that have been a part of my small group that just want to be there to learn how to teach their own kids or lead devotionals in their family. Maybe they have a desire to want to become a Sunday school teacher, but they want to know where to start, so they'll sign up for the workshop and then learn how to read Scripture and find structure and then make application and things like that.

This is one of the reasons why we can't broadcast the workshops is because it's very hands-on. You actually are involved in this workshop. You're not just sitting there receiving lectures, but you are being taught, and you have to give a presentation on material that you're presented as well.

You have to show how you found the structure and how you communicate these things, and we give you guides that will lead you through that and that preparation also. Anyway, all that to say, if one of those expository workshops comes near to you, sign up.

You won't regret it. We always have incredible feedback from those who attend our workshops. All right, without further ado, let's get into the matter today. I just have one passage that I'm going to be discussing, but a number of different responses to something that I said on social media regarding something Jesus said in Matthew 25.

The Olivet Discourse and the Final Judgment in Matthew 25

This is the Olivet Discourse. This is where Jesus was responding to his disciples about these questions. They said to him, Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?

This happened while Jesus was on Mount Olivet just outside of Jerusalem. So that's why we refer to Jesus' response here, which covers Matthew 24 and 25, as the Olivet Discourse. But it's at the end of that discourse, we're going to get to the discourse in our study of Matthew, of course, but it's at the end of that that we read about the final judgment.

So let me read here from Matthew 25, starting in verse 31. Jesus said the following, But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne, and all the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate them one from another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

And 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 of my Father, inherit the kingdom which has been prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me in. Naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me.

I was in prison, and you came to me. Then the righteous will answer him, saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry, and feed you? Or thirsty, and give you something to drink? And when did we see you a stranger, and invite you in?

Or naked, and clothe you? And when did we see you sick, or in prison, and come to you? And 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 to the least of them, you did it to me.

Then he will also say to those on his left, Depart from me, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire, which has been prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry, and you gave me nothing to eat.

I was thirsty, and you gave me nothing to drink. I was a stranger, and you did not invite me in. Naked, and you did not clothe me. Sick, and in prison, and you did not visit me. Then they themselves also will answer, saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of you?

Then he will answer them, saying, Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me. And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.

And there we have the statement of the final judgment in Matthew 25, the great white throne of judgment, as it's also called in the book of Revelation. Now when I had mentioned this on social media this past week, I think it was two weeks ago as a matter of fact, I said that this statement that Jesus makes here about doing it unto the least of these, this is not about serving all of the marginal persons in society, everybody that we would say is marginalized, or those who are poor, or sick, or destitute, or in poverty, all of those who are in poverty in the culture.

We just need to do kindness to them, and then we will be doing it unto the brothers of Christ. And Jesus will welcome us into the eternal kingdom, because we did it to the least of these. That's how you most often hear this particular passage explained, that Jesus is referring to everybody in society who's in poverty.

But that's not the context. In fact, it's not difficult to see what the context is. It's very plain. Jesus says, that which you did to one of these brothers of mine, even to the least of them, you did it to me.

So Jesus is not saying every single poor person in society, every single person who would be sick or in prison, or naked and needing clothed, or hungry or thirsty, and needing something to eat and drink.

Jesus is not referring to all of the poor in society. He's specifically referring to those whom he calls his brothers. And so who are his brothers? Consider what we read in Matthew chapter 12, verses 47 to 50.

I mean, we've seen this earlier in the gospel of Matthew. Now someone said to him, Behold, your mother and your brothers are standing outside seeking to speak to you. But Jesus answered the one who was telling him and said, Who is my mother and who are my brothers?

And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, Behold, my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my brother and sister and mother. Whoever does the will of the Father, that's who Jesus is referring to as his brothers.

So I made this particular statement on social media. Since I saw this going about, I saw people were making these comments about helping the least of these because Jesus said to help all poor, according to this statement in Matthew chapter 25.

That's the way that they were reading it. That Jesus was saying help all the poor. So I said the following, The least of these brothers of mine, Jesus talks about in Matthew 25, are not all of the marginalized in society.

They are specifically our fellow Christians. Just as you care for your own household before you care for anyone else. So we are first to care for the household of faith. Now you might understand why I opened with reading Galatians 6 .10.

Let us do good to everyone, but especially to the household of faith. Hey, we should show charity to everyone. But we have, first of all, to care for our own brothers and sisters in the Lord in the church.

That's who we should be looking after first, before we're going outside of the church and then extending charity to others. Which again is wonderful to do. And it's great that churches have ministries that have that kind of an outreach.

But if the church was caring for outsiders and unbelievers, and not caring for their own, then they would not be the servants of Christ. For Jesus said to his own disciples that you love one another. This is how people will know that you are my disciples, because you have love for one another.

So we are to care for our brothers and sisters in Christ in the church first. And then as we have opportunity, showing kindness to all. But there were certainly people that hated that idea, that I was saying we should first care for our own.

I'm just simply reading what Jesus said here. Instead of translating this or understanding this as, we need to be caring for all of the marginalized in society. This woman Kayla from Atlanta said, this is the most disgusting, blasphemous thing that I've ever heard, and is entirely anti-gospel and anti-Christ.

Shame on you for being so selfish. Shame on me for being so selfish. Where I'm saying we are obligated to care for our brothers and sisters in the Lord. And I'm being selfish? I told her that I'm just reading the text for what it says.

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 to the least of them, you did it to me, Matthew 25, 40. So how am I anti-Christ for simply quoting Christ?

And Kayla responded, I'm calling you that, because of your hateful reputation in this circle, and you're deliberately ignoring of what he actually means, to escape your responsibility of selfishness and inclusivity of the marginalized.

What intention did you have in saying this? And then she called me a swear word. So, yeah, very clearly more Christ-like than I. You sure showed me. What was my intention in posting that? Well, again, because I saw a lot of people out there who were twisting this particular passage.

It seemed to be a trend at that time when I made the statement that I did. I saw them twisting the word and saying, hey, Jesus said, help all of the marginalized, so we need to help all of the marginalized.

No, in context, specifically what he said was that we need to do for the least of these brothers of Christ, even to the least of them, they should demand our attention first. And when we have done so, even to the least, it is as if we have done it unto Christ.

And Jesus calls them righteous. He says the righteous will answer him, verse 37. So these are righteous persons who have done exactly this, as Jesus has instructed them to do, so they will do. And they receive eternal life.

Jesus says, come, you who are blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom which has been prepared for you from the foundation of the world. So another reason why a person hates the idea that what's being said here is that we need to care for fellow brothers and sisters in Christ is because they want to think that they are righteous for caring for anybody, or for paying their taxes, like I vote Democrat, which cares for the poor, and so therefore I'm righteous because I care for poor people.

There are actually people that think that way. They actually think that Democrats care for people, for one, actually caring for the least of these, when their main platform as Democrats is to murder unborn children by the thousands every day.

They don't care for anybody. But there are people that actually have the mentality that because I vote for the party that cares for the least of these, therefore I'm righteous and I'm going to receive the kingdom of God.

Well, it wouldn't even matter if the political party that you were voting for actually did help the poor. That's not the fulfillment of this responsibility that we have to care for the least of these.

First of all, what Jesus is referring to are the least of these brothers of mine. And secondly, righteousness does not come by doing good works. And this is what people want. They want to think that they're righteous because they've helped the poor.

They want to think that they're going to gain eternal life because they've done all the right things. But again, what did Jesus say in verse 34? Come you who are blessed of my Father. First and foremost, they have the Father's love.

The Father is the one who has loved them and called them to himself. Jesus had said that previously in Matthew 11. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son, and anyone whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

So the reason why a person receives eternal life, again, first and foremost, is because they have the love of the Father. And it's because they are blessed of the Father that they have demonstrated they are children of the Father by doing this.

Caring for the hungry. Caring for those who were thirsty, who were the least of these brothers of Christ. Clothing them when they were naked. Welcoming them in when they were strangers. Visiting them when they were in prison or when they were sick.

And you know, a lot of these persons were in that particular condition. These persons that Jesus is describing. They're in those particular conditions because they've been persecuted for the sake of the gospel.

Either they have gone out preaching the gospel, or just for believing the gospel they have suffered oppression and have had everything taken from them. Now, that's not universally the case here. That's not only who Jesus is talking about, because he doesn't state that.

But that's going to be the case, especially with regards to the context in which Jesus was talking about these things. Earlier in the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24, he talked about the persecution that was going to come upon those who are followers of Christ.

But it's those who would endure to the end who will be saved. So because they face persecution, they've ended up in this particular position. But we are to care for those who have suffered so, and we are doing unto the least of these brothers in Christ.

As we have done to even the least, it's as if we have done even unto Christ. Remember what Jesus said to Paul in Acts chapter 9. When Paul was on his way, he was called Saul at that time. That was his Hebrew name.

But Saul, Paul was on his way to Damascus to round up Christians for following Jesus. Jesus appears to him on the road to Damascus and says, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? So as Paul was going to persecute Christians, Jesus took that as persecution against himself because we are the body of Christ.

The church is his body with himself as the head. So when his body is persecuted, it is the same as if Christ himself were being persecuted. When the body is cared for, it's the same as if Christ himself were being cared for.

Those who will do such things, who will care for the least of these brothers of Christ, demonstrate that they are from their father who is in heaven. These are our brothers and sisters because we are of the same father.

Hence Jesus saying, come you who are blessed of my father. And remember, as we've been going through the Beatitudes, blessed means approved of. You've been approved of by my father. Inherit the kingdom, which has been prepared for you from before the foundation of the world.

You were destined to inherit this place, which God prepared for you. You did not receive it by your works, but by your works, you showed that you are children of the kingdom. That's what's all being contained here in what Jesus is saying about the least of these.

So those who are not of Christ, they want to believe that by their good works, they will inherit the kingdom of God. But it is only those who are of the father that receive the kingdom, who has been prepared by the father.

It is only those who do the will of the father who are Jesus' brothers and sisters, as he said previously in Matthew chapter 12. I had shared that response exactly with Ralph, a pastor of a church in Richmond, Virginia, who contacted me and said, unfortunately, your exegesis is lacking.

When Jesus says brothers of mine, he is saying that who you might call a stranger is actually a brother to Christ. He is not saying only those we call brothers. He is arguing against seeing someone as other than a brother.

Well, I just simply referred him to Matthew 1250. For whoever does the will of my father who is in heaven, he is my brother and sister and mother. Kevin responded and said, question for you, Gabe. Can you show me a single person before 1900 America who agreed with your novel interpretation of this verse?

Yes, actually, I shared several with him, including John Gill, who explicitly said that this statement is about those who are in the church caring for the least of these brothers of mine, meaning fellow Christians.

Matthew Henry also regarded this passage the same way that I'm reading it. Somebody else chimed in and pointed out that John Calvin read it this way. Now, I shared a couple of other commentaries, one of whom gave options, like it could mean this, it could mean this, and one of those was that it could mean exactly the way that I'm interpreting it.

And then I also shared Charles Ellicott's commentary, which wasn't as clear, but I still believe that even Ellicott viewed this as fellow Christians. The least of these brothers of mine are fellow Christians, because Ellicott made a reference to Hebrews 2 .11, which explicitly says that it is those who are in Christ who are his brothers.

So then Kevin responded and said that I used bad examples, which rebutted my own argument. Did he even read what I said? And he went on to say, but better to just drop it at this point. See my comment here.

I have better things to do than try to convince a self-proclaimed teacher of Scripture that Christians are commanded to care for the poor. All of them. My. Somebody's quite big on themselves. A self-proclaimed teacher of Scripture.

Well, then what does that make you? I was actually approved of by my church to teach Scripture. Where are you coming from? First of all, I did not say that I was posting commentaries only that agreed with me.

I just posted the first few that I checked, and none of them contradicted me. Only Ellicott's was unclear. Though, again, I believe that his reference to Hebrews 2 .11 established brothers as those who are in the faith.

But where did I say, don't care about the poor? I didn't say that at all. All I was doing was offering a correct understanding of the context of Matthew 25. I was not saying in any way, don't care for the poor.

As I just read from Galatians 6 .10 at the top of the program. Let us do good to everyone, especially to the household of faith. So we have an obligation to care for one another. And that's not a crazy concept.

Like I said in the thing that I posted. You understand the concept of caring for your own family before you go care for other people. When you make a paycheck, you're not taking that paycheck and then going and paying other people's bills.

You're paying for your own. You're providing food for your own household. And so we are called to do the same within the church. In fact, the Apostle Paul said in 1 Timothy 5, that if one does not care for members of his own household, then he has denied the faith and he's worse than an unbeliever.

So we all get this. Even unbelievers get this. Unbelievers understand caring for their own family. And so in the body of Christ, our family is the church. Brothers and sisters in the Lord. When I tried to explain this to Kevin, he just simply said, not interested in playing this game.

Have a good one, Gabe. I said, well, you're bearing false witness if you're saying that I didn't care about the poor. I mean, you're lying about me. And I think that's the view they're comfortable with.

I'm more comfortable thinking that Gabe's just lying than having to read this text honestly and tell the truth about him. Andrew from Texas said, it's a reference to the Jewish people specifically. See Joel 3, 1 through 4.

Jesus is literally importing that prophecy into Matthew chapter 25. No, because Jesus said in Matthew 12, 50, whoever does the will of my father is my brother or sister. He's not talking about explicitly Jews.

This is an absurd reading of this text and especially of Joel 3, 1 through 4. By the way, the church is Israel and Israel is the church. Just going to drop that bomb and continue on. Storm, who is a Cedarville grad, said, yes, this is not the social gospel.

I remember my theology professor going over this in school, and he was pretty heavy on it not being a social gospel, and it made so much sense. Right. What we're reading here in Matthew 25, this instruction is not calling for the social gospel, that we preach the gospel just by doing good works for people.

That's a false gospel. The social gospel is heresy. The true gospel here is believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. But you demonstrate that you are indeed followers of Christ, that you are children of the Father when you care for your brothers and sisters in the Lord.

That's the context. Leah, who is an LGBTQ supporter from Michigan, said the following, you really should read the whole book before assuming. Oh, does she even know? You also might want to remember that Jesus was born and buried in the Jewish faith.

We all are children of God. Don't be the normal Samaritan. You would know that reference if you read the whole book, both testaments. I really have no idea what she's talking about there. No clue as to what that even meant.

But Jesus, stretching his hand out toward his disciples, said, behold, my mother and my brothers, for whoever does the will of my Father in heaven, he is my brother and sister and mother. Matthew 12, 49 to 50.

Leslie from Alabama said, that verse is right up there with judge not in verses taken out of context. You're absolutely right, Leslie. This one is so twisted. People love taking this and making it mean all of the marginalized in society in context, Jesus was clearly not saying that.

You don't even have to read the context. You can see plainly in verse 40 exactly who he was talking about. Jedediah from Maryland, by this, all people will know that you are my disciples if you love one another, John 13, 35.

Amen, Jedediah. I mean, just wait until they find out that the whole Bible was written specifically to Christians. Going on to this comment from Sarah, how do you square that with the parable of the good Samaritan?

Well, she doesn't even say the parable. So I don't know if she knows it's a parable. She just says, how do you square that with the good Samaritan? Well, I talked about this earlier this week when we were in the Beatitudes, specifically the Beatitude, blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy.

How do we understand mercy? And Jesus was talking about mercy in that parable with the good Samaritan, caring for the man who was beaten by the roadside. He asked the lawyer who had questioned Jesus and said, who is my neighbor?

He asked the lawyer who then proved to be a neighbor to the man who had been beaten and left on the roadside. And then the lawyer had to answer the one who showed mercy to him. And mercy being more than just, you know, not paying a person back for what they did to you.

Certainly we could call that merciful, but that's not what God means when he says, be merciful. It's specifically be compassionate toward others, that we recognize their needs and we care for them. So that's what's being communicated in the parable of the good Samaritan, that we fulfill the command, love your neighbor as yourself.

We actually have compassion for other people. And we're supposed to have the compassion of Christ specifically, not our own compassion, but being as compassionate as Jesus has been toward us. In no way is my explanation of Matthew 25, 40, which again is just saying what it explicitly says, is no way my explanation contradictory toward the parable of the good Samaritan.

That was said in a different context. So I'm not saying don't care for the poor, which a lot of the people who are pushing back on me, hear me saying, that's what they think I'm saying. They think I'm saying only care for Christians, don't care for the poor, which is just incredibly uncharitable.

You're not being a neighbor. You're not showing mercy to me when you assume the worst of what it is that I said, instead of reading simply what I said. Going on, Stephen from Alabama, bro, from your interpretation of scripture, you got to drop the what brand when we understand the text.

I got a feeling you probably couldn't navigate a Chuck E. Cheese menu, much less the holy and inspired word of God. Hey, I'll have you know, I do just fine navigating a Chuck E. Cheese menu, and my kids can attest.

Patrick from Tennessee says, congratulations, you have completely missed the point of Christianity. What is the point of Christianity? The point of Christianity is to worship Christ. That's the point of Christianity.

And all those who are in Christ Jesus are the children of God. Only those who are in Christ are the children of God, thus being brothers and sisters in the Lord. And how are followers of Christ supposed to behave?

We are pursuing godliness and holiness, growing in Christ's likeness. And in the context of Matthew 25, who we are obligated to care for are our brothers and sisters in the Lord. We're actually not obligated to make sure that all the poor are cared for.

That's nowhere in the Bible. Nowhere in the Bible does it say you must care for all the poor. It doesn't say that. Because we could never do that. Now, no one is caring for the poor in society like Christians are.

They do more for the poor than anyone. But we will never care for the poor to a degree that we just eradicate poverty. After all, Jesus said to his own disciples, you will always have the poor. So the existence of the poor, that's not proof that Christianity is not working.

But we should be able to look into a good, godly church and see that the members of that church are caring for one another, even the least of these. This is what the children of God in Christ Jesus should be doing.

But the point of Christianity is Christ. It is the worship and glory of Christ. That's the point. Danny from Ohio, what a deeply sad and small view of God's love. There truly is no hate like Christian hate.

Alright, well, you're hating me for saying so. Joel from Michigan, there was no such thing as Christians when Jesus was saying these words. See, that's an uncharitable way to read what I said as well.

You know exactly what I'm talking about. Jesus said to his own disciples, or said of his own disciples, those who do the will of my Father, they are my brothers and sisters. Another word for disciples is Christians.

Followers of Christ. So as Jesus is talking about his own disciples here, that's just synonymous with Christians. Christians, by the way, Christian is a word that unbelievers use to describe us. So, I'm trying to be plain in the meaning.

If I said disciples, how would an unbeliever have interpreted that? They probably would have thought I was only talking about the twelve that were following Jesus, you know. And even then, the twelve didn't all care for one another.

You had Judas in there who was a son of the devil. So, Jesus specifically stating that his brothers and sisters are those who do the will of his Father. And, by the way, whoever is doing the will of the Father who is in Heaven, including worshiping Christ, you're a Christian.

You're disciples of Jesus, you're also a Christian. Justin, who is a student from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, said the following,. The comment section shows how far biblical literacy has fallen.

There is nothing controversial about Gabe's interpretation of Matthew 25. His take is correct. Making the verses about a call to social justice is an invention of the 19th and 20th century liberalization, not orthodoxy.

Hey, well said from a student at SBTS. Thank you so much, Justin. This one from Eki, a pastor friend in California. You probably know Eki Tepseporkai. I've had him on the program, and he is one half of the podcast, Let the Truth Be Known, along with Nathaniel Jolly.

So, Eki said this. This is a little bit longer. Gabe is right. Matthew 25 is referring to other believers. Want some other examples? Look specifically what kind of poor individuals Paul was tasked to help in Acts 15 -26.

Also read from Paul exactly what kind of widows the church was to support, 1 Timothy 5, 3 -16. Additionally, Jesus tells his disciples that the world will know that you are his by their love for one another, referring to each other as fellow disciples, John 13 -35.

John emphasizes the need to help brothers in need, 1 John 3 -17, also referring clearly to fellow saints. The immediate example of such love in the early church was between believers. See also Acts 2, 44 -45.

Jesus' prayer was for the unity of his disciples, John 17 -11, and 21 -23, not the world. He even says specifically in that prayer, in John 17, I am not praying for the world. Eki goes on. While it is good for Christians to love those who are poor and oppressed, it is clear from scripture that the church's first priority is to care for their own saints in need, and never forget that the greatest need of those in the world is and always will be the gospel.