He said “Why are you persecuting me“ not because those individuals were actually Jesus. He meant it in the sense that we are all made in the image of God and should treat each other the way we want to be treated … which he demonstrated on the cross. He said the same thing to Paul that he said before his resurrection:
Parable of the Judgment of the Sheep and Goats
When the Son of Man comes in his splendor with all his angels with him, then he will take his seat on his glorious throne. All the nations will be assembled before him and he will separate people from each other like a shepherd separating sheep from goats. He will place the sheep on his right hand and the goats on his left.
Then the king will say to those on his right “Come, you who have won my Father’s blessing! Take your inheritance - the kingdom reserved for you since the foundation of the world! I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me a drink. I was lonely and you made me welcome. I was naked and you clothed me. I was ill and you came and looked after me. I was in prison and you came to see me there.”
Then the authentic people will answer him, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and give you food? When did we see you thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you lonely and make you welcome, or see you naked and clothe you, or see you ill or in prison and go to see you?”
The king will reply, “I assure you that whatever you did for the humblest of my brothers and sisters you did for me.”
Many will find themselves standing outside and knocking at the door crying, “Lord, please open the door for us.” It is not everyone who keeps saying to me “Lord, Lord” who will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who actually does my heavenly Father’s will. He will reply to them, “I tell you, I don’t know who you are or where you come from. Be off, you scoundrels!”
They will protest, “We have had meals with you, and you taught in our streets!” In “that day” many will say to me, “Lord, Lord, didn’t we preach in your name, didn’t we cast out devils in your name, and do many great things in your name?” Then the king will tell them plainly, "I have never known you. Go away from me, you have worked on the side of evil! What is the point of calling me ‘Lord, Lord’, without doing what I tell you to do?”
Then the king will say to those on his left, “Out of my presence, cursed as you are, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels! I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink. I was lonely and you never made me welcome. When I was naked you did nothing to clothe me. When I was sick and in prison you never cared about me.”
Then they too will answer him, “Lord, when did we ever see you hungry, or thirsty, or lonely, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and fail to look after you?”
Then the king will answer them with these words, “I assure you that whatever you failed to do to the humblest of my brothers and sisters you failed to do to me.” These will go off to eternal punishment, but the authentic people to eternal life.
Matthew 24:31-46
Here are some commentaries on one of your prooftexts. He didn’t make a new race or species, he made the body of his church that transcends group differences:
