Charles Ellicott Commentary Matthew 20:13

"But he answered and said to one of them, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a shilling?" — Matthew 20:13 (ASV)

Friend — The word so translated (literally, comrade, companion) always carries with it on our Lord’s lips a tone of reproof. It is addressed to the man who was not wearing a wedding garment (Matthew 22:12) and to the traitor Judas (Matthew 26:50).

I do thee no wrong — The answer of the householder is that of one who is just where claims are urged on the ground of justice, and generous where he sees that generosity is right. Had the first-called laborers shared this generosity, they would not have grudged the others the wages that they themselves received, and would have found their own reward in sympathy with their joy. This would be true even in the outer framework of the parable. It is à fortiori true when we pass to its spiritual interpretation. No disciple who had entered into his Master’s spirit would grudge the repentant thief his rest in Paradise (Luke 23:43). No consistent Christian thinks that he ought to have some special reward because he sees a death-bed repentance crowned by a peace—the foretaste of eternal life—as full and assured as his own.