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In the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats in Matthew 25, Jesus says, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” (Matthew 25:40) Most people gloss over the qualifier to the least of these… my brothers. Bible scholars, however, have wrestled with the fact that the clear instruction for us to have compassion and care for the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, and the prisoner – the least of these – is qualified by Jesus by adding “my brothers.”

Some modern scholarship argues for a limited interpretation. These scholars contend that “the least of these, my brothers” refers specifically to the disciples of Jesus and fellow believers, especially those who are suffering persecution or deprivation as a result of their faith. They argue that we can not apply this Parable to the people in the world at large because the category of “the least of these” is qualified by “my brothers.”

In similar fashion, Jesus tells his followers, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:35) Jesus does not say that the world will know his disciples by the love they have for people in the world at large; rather, they will be known by the love they have for “one another.”

These two statements of Jesus raise some questions for us. Are Christians only commanded and expected to care for and love each other? Is the Bible silent on whether we should love and care for people who are not followers of Christ? Does it matter whether we love and care for people in the world?

The point of the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats is that the love and care we show for “the least of these my brothers” is tantamount to showing love and care for Jesus. In other words, one’s treatment of “the least of these”, who Jesus calls his brothers, reflects our hearts and our relationship with God, Himself.

This is not inconsistent with the one, primary characteristic that Jesus says should mark his followers – that they love each other. (John 13:35) Love within the Christian community is the hallmark of being a follower of Jesus, and that love and mutual care that Christians have for each other serves as a testimony to the world that we follow Jesus (if, indeed, we are faithful to his commandment).

We might glean from the Parable of Sheep and the Goats that the emphasis on “my brothers” means that Christians only show love for Jesus when they love and care for brothers and sisters in Christ. We might understand from reading John 13:35 that we should focus only on loving each other, as that is the way the world will know us.

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I often consider how the first followers lived out the commands of Jesus in determining how we should apply what he said many hundreds of years later because they were closer to the time of his instruction than we are. There was less time for his instruction to be misunderstood and misapplied in the early church because they were closer in time to the people who knew Jesus and followed him in person.

We definitely see in the early church the characteristic that Jesus said would define his followers: their love for each other. Early Christians with wealth sold their land and expensive possessions and gave the proceeds to the local church so no one would be in need. (Acts 2:44-45) When the Greek widows were being left out, the apostles recognized the need and established deacons to make sure their needs were met. (Acts 6:1-6)

That love for each other continued to be a distinctive trait of Christians for least four centuries after Jesus died. (See A Love Without Condition at the earlychurch.com) Clement of Alexandria wrote of the typical person who became a follower of Christ late in the 2nd Century:

“He impoverishes himself out of love, so that he is certain he may never overlook a brother in need, especially if he knows he can bear poverty better than his brother. He likewise considers the pain of another as his own pain. And if he suffers any hardship because of having given out of his own poverty, he does not complain.”

from his treatise “Who Is the Rich Man That Shall Be Saved?”

Tertullian reported in Chapter 39 of the Apologeticum written about 197 AD that Romans would exclaim, “See how they love one another!” He contrasted the mutual love, charity, and willingness even to die for each other by Christians to the societal norms in the Roman Empire. Christians remained distinctive in the demonstration of their love for each other in communal life almost 200 hundred after Jesus, and the Romans took notice because the contrast was stark.

Justin Martyr wrote the following in his First Apology addressed to Emperor Antoninus Pius and his sons:

“We who used to value the acquisition of wealth and possessions more than anything else now bring what we have into a common fund and share it with anyone who needs it. We used to hate and destroy one another and refused to associate with people of another race or country. Now, because of Christ, we live together with such people and pray for our enemies.”

First apology (155-157 AD)

Jesus was certainly accurate in his statement that the world would know his followers by their love for one another (at least in the early church). But, that wasn’t all the early church was known for. They were also known for the love they showed for their pagan neighbors.

The early Christians were especially known for their acts of charity and mercy during times of plague and famine, caring for the sick and burying the dead, even when others abandoned them, regardless of their faith. Julian the Apostate (331 363 AD) who tried to revive pagan prominence and practices in the 4th Century, wrote a number of letters to pagan letters, urging them to encourage pagans to match the generosity of “the Galileans.” In one letter, he wrote, “Galileans support not only their poor but ours as well, everyone can see that our people lack aid from us.” (See Julian the Apostate: Benevolence at generositymonk.com, March 14, 2020, quoting an excerpt from a letter to a priest recounted by Rodney Stark in The Rise of Christianity: How the Obscure, Marginal Jesus Movement Became the Dominant Religious Force in the Western World in a Few Centuries (Princeton University Press, 1997) 83-84))

The early church fathers overwhelmingly embraced a broader understanding of love, demonstrating care and compassion not only for fellow Christians but also for the wider society, including non-believers, the poor, the sick, and even their persecutors. The love of Christians for their pagan neighbors, even those who persecuted them, is legendary through the first four centuries, in particular, after Christ.

If we look only at Matthew 25 and John 13 for direction on how Christians should love people and who they should love, we might miss the wealth of scriptural imperatives to love all people. When Jesus summarized the Law and the Prophets by saying, “You shall love the Lord your God ….[, and y]ou shall love your neighbor as yourself,” (Matthew 22:37-39)., he did not distinguish neighbors who followed him from neighbors who don’t.

In fact, the concept of “neighbor” is broadly defined in the Bible. This is the very point of the the Parable of the Good Samaritan, which answers the question, “Who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:25-37) In this parable, Jesus employs a Samaritan, a member of a despised group, as the one who shows compassion and acts with love toward an unidentified stranger who was beaten and left for dead, while religious leaders passed by without helping. When Jesus asked who was the good neighbor, the answer was clearly the despised Samaritan (and not the religious leaders who did not help).

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In case anyone might have missed the point, Jesus extended the commandment to love people to include even our enemies:

“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven. For he causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”

Matthew 5:44-45

This radical call to love even those who oppose or harm you clearly extends beyond fellow believers. The Parable of the Good Samaritan emphatically demonstrates that love and compassion are to be extended to anyone in need, regardless of their background, ethnicity, or religious affiliation, and anyone who shows that kind of love is a good neighbor – regardless of how we feel about them.

The example Jesus gives is of God causing the sun to shine and the rain to fall on everyone – the good and the evil, the righteous, and the unrighteous. This is in keeping with John 3:16 in which Jesus famously states,

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

God’s love encompasses all of humanity, not just those who believe. While we might protest that God’s loving sacrifice is intended for “whoever believes in Him,” He made no distinction when Christ gave up His life, and neither should we. Christ died for all of us while we were sinners. (Romans 5:8) Christians, as followers of God, are called to emulate this expansive love.

Finally, Paul writes,

“So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.”

Galatians 6:10

This verse clearly indicates a general command to “do good to everyone.” Though Paul specifically emphasizes doing good to fellow believers, his command clearly goes beyond loving fellow believers. This is not an “either/or” proposition; it is a “both/and” proposition.

While some scholars claim that Christians are only to care for and love each other based on passages like Matthew 25 and John 13, that position is a minority view. Orthodox Christian theology from the earliest examples of the church, the writings of the Church fathers, and the example of the early Church, extending through today across all denominations, affirms a universal call to love all people as God loves humanity.

I will end with this: when Jesus shocked his followers by calling them to love their enemies, he added a final emphasis to what he was saying:

“If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Matthew 5:46-48

John was talking to the Church when he said, “Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.” (1 John 4:20) But, the same thing can be said of our neighbors, and even our enemies, because God loves them and came in the flesh to die for them just He died for us.

In summary, while the New Testament highlights a unique and distinctive love that should characterize the Christian community (as reflected in John 13, Galatians 6, and 1 John 4), it simultaneously and emphatically calls Christians to love their neighbors, including those who are not followers of Jesus, and even their enemies (Matthew 5, Luke 10). The early church fathers lived out this comprehensive understanding of Christian love in practice, and so should we.