The passage is not formally a parable, though it has been mistakenly referred to as a parable because of the context in which it is found. The passage is a discourse on the last day and answers the question: "What will happen to all men come Judgment Day?" There was a need for an answer to this question because of the different answers given to another related question: "How are we to be saved?" This latter question is indirectly answered in the two preceding parables, that of the Ten Virgins and that of the Talents.
1. The passage can be easily divided into three unequal parts: after a brief introduction (vv.31-33) using a language that was familiar to those who have been meditating on the book of Daniel, a dialogic section follows (vv. 34-45). This section provides the theological justification for the conclusion that rounds up the story (v. 46). The dialogic section gives another answer to the question: "How are we to be saved?" But like in the two other parables, the hearer should work this out by him/herself.
2. "Come, blessed of my Father
