Matthew 25: 39-40 “And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’”

Matthew 25:31-46 is the only passage in the New Testament that offers a detailed description of the Day of Judgment. It is commonly known as the "Sheep and the Goats" passage. In his description, all the nations gather around the throne of the returned King. He places those who cared for "the least of these” the hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, and imprisoned—on his right (the sheep), and those who failed to do so on his left (the goats). This is astonishing and challenging for Christians because it raises all sorts of uncomfortable questions about salvation and the boundaries of God’s grace (all nations).

But apart from the larger questions, the thing that makes this one of the most compelling passages in all of scripture for me, and maybe for you too, is that Jesus tells us that in so caring for the poor, we have directly cared for and alleviated the suffering of Jesus.

The extraordinary claim in Matthew 25:31-46, that the eternal Christ is present in 'the least of these,' is not merely a metaphor for compassion. It is an ontological truth—echoed by early church figures—that God's Incarnation changed all of humanity. In becoming human, God not only changed the character of the single man, Jesus, but it also changed the very nature of all humankind. This ontological shift occurred when God deigned to become human, making all of humanity bearers of the divine spark.

Saint Irenaeus put it this way:

“The Word of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, did, through His transcendent love, become what we are, that He might bring us to be even what He is Himself."

Once when I was asking my mom about the pain that I felt at Jesus’s suffering on the Cross, she suggested that I pray for Jesus, asking that my prayers may serve to comfort and alleviate his suffering. This opened up my mind to see that Christ's suffering is not simply a past event, but that it is a continuous reality. Jesus calls us simply to meet the needs of "the least of these," because to do so relieves the suffering of humanity and the suffering of God.

Michael Ryan+