Expositor's Bible Commentary 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)

The landowner insists, in a mild rebuke, that he is not cheating anyone. He has paid the agreed wage. Should he want to pay others more, that is his business. Provided he has been just in all his dealings, does he not have the right to do what he wants with his money? These rhetorical questions (vv.13b–15) show that God’s great gifts, simply because they are God’s, are distributed, not because they are earned, but because he is gracious. In the kingdom of God, the driving force is not merit and ability (as in the world) but grace.