Matthew's gospel presents Jesus as surprising disciples by saying to them, "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, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me."

His hearers are perplexed. They cannot remember doing any acts of compassion toward Jesus. They ask him, "When did we ever do such things for you?" Jesus replies, "Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me."

In this way, Matthew suggests that the risen Jesus is present in people who are in need because they are currently hungry, thirsty, unclothed, imprisoned, sick, or strangers to the community, and that when we take care of each other with compassion, we take care of Jesus himself.

Mujerista theologian Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz echoes this kind of compassion when she proposes that the metaphor "kingdom of God" might be changed to "kin-dom of God": "Kin-dom makes it clear that when the fullness of God becomes a day-to-day reality in the world at large, we will all be sisters and brothers--kin to each other. We will indeed be the family of God." (Qtd. from Professor Kate Ott's reflection on Matthew 25:31-46 in Connections: A Lectionary Commentary, Year A, Volume 3, 2020, p.508.)

Professor Isasi-Diaz's prophetic vision of human beings as a "kin-dom" of compassion is described in her book, Mujerista Theology: A Theology for the Twenty-First Century (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis 1996, p. 103, n.8)