Matthew 25:31-46 - The Least of These Then and Now

In Matthew 25:31-46, the Son of Man gathers all the nations and separates between the sheep and the goats. The criterion for judgments revolves around what one did for the least of these my brethren. In this thesis, I provide a narrative and discourse analysis of the passage, asking questions concerning the identity of “all the nations” (πάντα τὰ ἔθνη) and of “the least of these my brethren” (τούτων τῶν ἀδελφῶν μου τῶν ἐλαχίστων). Afterward, I address how our understanding of service to the least of these must change in our increasingly globalized world. I make the claim that in order to faithfully serve the least in society, we must not only care for the suffering individual but also for the structural injustices that causes individuals to suffer. Finally, I demonstrate an ecofeminist reading of Matthew 25:31-46 that addresses the interconnected structural injustices that create and maintain the marginalization of the least of these.