But he replied to one of them: friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? The landowner's response: you received what we agreed to. The friend address — not a close friend but a formal address — communicates the landowner's courtesy in the face of the complaint. The did you not agree is the reminder: the contract was honored. The complaint is not about justice (you received what was agreed) but about grace to others.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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