The true definition of "stranger" in Matthew 25:35?

June 21, 2018
Slowig Illegal Immigration Of Minors

QUESTION?

With immigration being a big issue. Those that want open borders, amnesty usually quote Matthew 25:35 "For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me..." The open borders democrats and some Bishops use this verse against Trumps immigration zero tolerance policy. How would you respond? 

ANSWER!

What about the biblical admonition to “welcome the stranger” (Matthew 25:35)? The Greek word [for stranger] is “xenos,” which the ‘Liddell Scott Jones Classical Greek Lexicon’ recounts several instances from Homer to Sophocles that “xenos” refers to an “invited guest;” when it refers to a foreigner, a formal invitation – even a treaty often precedes the visit.

Thayer's Greek Lexicon STRONGS NT 3581: "xenos" (ξένος), from Homer down, masculine a guest-friend (http://biblehub.com/greek/3581.htm).   

 

On the USCCB website they comment on Matt 25:35. They write: "Scholars are divided in their response and arguments can be made for either side. But leaving aside the problem of what the traditional material that Matthew edited may have meant, it seems that a stronger case can be made for the view that in the evangelist’s sense the sufferers are Christians, probably Christian missionaries whose sufferings were brought upon them by their preaching of the gospel." In other words, the commentary says that the people that Jesus was talking about that were suffering, thirsty, hungry, naked and being welcomed were Christian missionaries. These were the strangers who became the invited guests.