<p>10:40 <i>But to sit on my right hand or on my left hand- </i>When the disciples foolishly sought to have what they thought were to be the favoured places at His right hand and His left, the Lord could have answered: &lsquo;You foolish people Those on my left hand will be condemned&rsquo;. But He graciously didn&rsquo;t comment on their glaring error. He pushed a higher principle- that we should not seek for personal greatness, seeing that God is the judge of all (Mt. 20:23). Yet sadly, so much of our preaching has been solely concerned with pointing out the errors of others without being sensitive to what little faith and understanding they&nbsp;<i>do</i>&nbsp;have, and seeking to build on it.</p><p><i>Is not mine to give- </i>A profound rebuttal of the primitive and mistaken equation of Jesus with God which is found in Trinitarian theology.</p><p><i>But it will be given to them for whom it has been prepared</i>-</p><p>A specific future is being prepared for each of us in God's Kingdom (22:4; 25:34; 1 Cor. 2:9; Heb. 11:16 &quot;He has prepared for them a city&quot;), a unique place prepared in the Kingdom for us by the Lord's death (Jn. 14:2,3) and yet&nbsp;<i>we&nbsp;</i>are likewise being &quot;prepared&quot; (s.w. Lk. 1:17,76; 12:47; 2 Tim. 2:21; Rev. 19:7; 21:2 &quot;His wife has&nbsp;<i>prepared</i>&nbsp;herself&quot;). God is preparing a unique destiny and role for each of us in His Kingdom, but that preparation work is in terms of how we are being prepared in this life. Therefore all our present experiences are specifically intended to prepare us for the kind of person and role we shall eternally have. In this lives the the ultimate significance and meaning to human experience if we are indeed Kingdom people. A huge amount of intense preparation is being packed into a very short space of time in this life. The lack of meaning and significance attached to even is what causes the depression which dogs each secular person, especially as they grow older. The Lord's point was that He was going to the cross to prepare places for them all in the Kingdom (Jn. 14:2,3 s.w.). He had just predicted His death. This was where their focus was to be, rather than seeking something for themselves.<br />It&rsquo;s often been commented that God is beyond or even outside of our kind of time. God pre this present creation may have been like that, and He of course has the capacity and possibility to be like that. But it seems to me that particularly in connection with those with whom He is in relationship, He chooses to not exercise that possibility. Instead, God Almighty throws Himself into our experience, by limiting Himself to our kind of time- with all the suspense, hope, excitement, joy, disappointment which this involves. Time and again we read of how God says He is &ldquo;shaping evil against you and devising a plan&rdquo; against His enemies (Jer. 18:11; Jer. 26:3; Jer. 49:20,30; Jer. 50:45; Mic. 2:3; 4:12). For the faithful, He says that He is making plans for them for good and not for evil, &ldquo;to give you a future&rdquo; (Jer. 29:11). The Lord Jesus had this sort of thing in mind when He spoke of how the Kingdom will have been being&nbsp;<i>prepared&nbsp;</i>for the faithful from the beginning of the world (Mt. 25:34; Mt. 20:23).</p><p>John the Baptist was to &ldquo;prepare&rdquo; the way for the Lord&rsquo;s coming- evidently a process- in reflection of how God had been working a long time to &ldquo;prepare&rdquo; same Greek word the way for His Son&rsquo;s coming (Lk. 1:76; Lk. 2:31; Lk. 3:4). We likewise, in our preaching work in these last days, are working in tandem and in step with God. The idea of God 'preparing' implies that there is therefore a gap between the plan being made, and it being executed- hence &ldquo;The Lord has both planned and done what He spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon&rdquo; (Jer. 51:12; Jer. 4:28; Lam. 2:17; Is. 22:11; Is. 37:26; Zech. 1:6; Zech. 8:14).</p><p>The altogether lovely manner of the Lord is shown in how He dealt with immature understanding and ambition amongst others. James and John wanted to sit on either side of the Lord in His Kingdom glory. Instead of telling them to be more humble, the Lord gently went along with them- so far. He said that this great honour would be given to &ldquo;them for whom it is prepared&rdquo; (Mk. 10:40). And whom is this? <i>All</i> those redeemed in Christ have that place &ldquo;prepared&rdquo; (Mt. 25:34). The immediate context speaks of the cross (Mk. 10:33,45), and it is this which prepared the places in the Kingdom (Jn. 14:1,2). Thus the Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world, and the Kingdom was prepared from the foundation of the world (Mt. 25:34). Actually, all those redeemed in Christ will sit down with Him in His very throne- not just on the right and left side of Him (Rev. 3:21). Indeed, the Lord&rsquo;s subsequent parable about the places prepared in the Kingdom, and people being on the right <i>and left</i> hand of Him at judgment, with the rejected on the left hand, was perhaps His gentle corrective to James and John. But my point is that He was so gentle about the way He corrected their error. Actually twice before in Mark 10, the Lord had shown this spirit. The arrogant young man told Him that he&rsquo;d kept all the commandments from his youth and, get it, he was only a young guy anyway&hellip;. And yet &ldquo;Jesus beholding him, loved him&rdquo; (Mk. 10:20). And then moments later in the record, Peter starts on about &ldquo;Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee&rdquo;- and the Lord so gently doesn&rsquo;t disagree, even though Peter&rsquo;s fishing business and family were still there for him to return to it seems, but promises reward for all who truly do leave all (Mk. 10:28-30). So just three times in one chapter, we see the gentle patience of the Lord with arrogant, small minded people, who thought they understood so much and were so righteous. They were nothing compared to Him. But the way He deals with them is indeed &ldquo;altogether lovely&rdquo;.</p>