Charles Spurgeon 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)

He did not fall into a dispute with the whole company, but he answered one of them, which was quite enough. They had been individually hired, and individually he argues with them. It is a calm and reasonable reply, Friend, I do thee no wrong. If the Lord rewards us graciously for what we do, we are not wronged because another, who has done less, has a like recompense. The quiet personal question is one to which there is no answer, Didst not thou agree with me for a penny? Yet the legal spirit will come in even concerning work which is all of grace. Even among the Father’s true sons, the elder brother is touched by this alien spirit.

None of us are quite free from it. It seems bred in the bone of our proud nature, yet nothing is more unlovely or unreasonable.