But to sit on my right hand or on my left hand is not mine to give; but it is for them for whom it hath been prepared. The Arians gathered from this that our Lord was not of one substance with the Father.
But this arose from a misunderstanding of the words. For the antithesis is not here between Christ and the Father; but between James and John on the one side ambitiously seeking the pre-eminence, and those on the ether side to whom it ought of right to be given.
St. Jerome wisely says, "Our Lord does not say, 'Ye shall not sit,' lest he should put to shame these two. Neither does he say, 'Ye shall sit,' lest the others should be envious. But by holding out the prize to all, he animates all to contend for it."
Our Lord is also careful to point out that he who humbles himself shall be exalted. But Christ is the Giver, not indeed by way of favor to any one who asks, but according to the eternal and unalterable principles laid down by the Father.
That Christ is the Giver is plain from St. Luke (Luke 22:29). "I appoint unto you a kingdom, even as my Father appointed unto me."