In his reading, these three chapters together "uniquely infuse Jesus' distinctive teaching on discipleship, Christology, and judgment with the dramatic tension running throughout Matthew's plot".

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are: It is also found in quotations from Irenaeus (AD 180) in Adversus Haereses.

[11] Although often called a "parable", it is not a story as such, but the portrayal of the Son of Man as a shepherd and the people under judgment as sheep or goats can be treated as "parabolic elements".

[11] The narrative quotes Jesus teaching that all of the people will be assembled before him and "he will separate them one from another", with some who will "inherit the kingdom" while others who will go to "the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels".

Jesus is said to have said that the basis of this separation is whether or not someone:[11] "Matthew 25:21" is a song title inspired by this verse on the album The Life of the World to Come that was released by the American band The Mountain Goats in 2009.