Who Ministers to Whom: Matthew 25:31–46 and Prison Ministry

Abstract

This essay sees Matthew 25:31-46 as Jesus' offer of both gift and challenge: disciples will simultaneously minister to and be ministered to by Jesus in jail and prison. Following a consideration of two different dominant ways of interpreting the passage in the literature-what are sometimes called the missionary and the social justice interpretations-and Luther's reading of the passage as falling under the Fifth Commandment, the essay invites the reader to engage the transformative consequences of "seeing" Jesus imprisoned in the U.S. criminal "justice" system.

Visitatio Christi: Matthew 25:33-46 as Apocalyptic-Ethical Impulse

“…Alicia Vargas points to the emphasis upon attentive perception as a precondition for service when those addressed by the king ask: 'When was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food?' 33 The surprise of the people in Matthew 25 might instill in us the openness to being surprised as well. 34 Apocalyptic ethics implies an optics of hope, a reshaping of our vision into a receptivity towards the coming of the O/other.…”

The Queer Art of Biblical Reading: Matthew 25:31–46 (Caritas Christiana) ThroughCaritas Romana

“… See Vargas , 128–37; Grindheim , 313–31. “The lowliest” have traditionally been identified with the Christian community (Bruner , 564, 575).…”