Romans 15:3

Rom_15:3

For even Christ pleased not Himself.

The self-denial of Christ

I. Its exemplification.

1. He had the right to please Himself.

2. He ceded it.

(1) Seeking not His own case.

(2) Bearing the reproach of others.

3. For the benefit of mankind.

II. Its design.

1. For faith.

2. For imitation.

3. For motive. (J. Lyth, D.D.)

Imitation of Christ

makes a trifle the highest virtue. (T. Robinson, D. D.)

Self-forgetfulness

Amongst the Roman Christians there was a great strife about a very small matter. Might a Christian eat meat, or must he live on herbs? And we maybe certain that there would be the loud assertion of individual rights, and everywhere self would be very conspicuous. It must have grieved the apostle to be compelled to take part in any such strife. He must have been conscious of a deep descent when he came down from the heights of chap. 8 into the arena where professed Christians were engaged in such a dispute. But he brought the power of the Cross to bear upon it, and instantly lifted it into a higher region. He showed the contending men that in connection with their very differences there were glorious possibilities of maintaining Christs own spirit and growing up into Christs own likeness (Rom_8:1-3). Note--

I. The spirit of Christ. The motto of selfish human nature is Every man for himself, and God for us all; and there are some of us who would change the latter part of the motto, and whose joy would be greater if they could believe that God is a great deal more for them than He is for others. The spirit of Christ was the very reverse of this. With Him thoughts of others were first, thoughts of self were last. He came into this world of which He had been the Creator, and of which He was the rightful ruler, not to be ministered unto, etc. Wherever He was found He was there for the good of others.

1. Look at His miracles. Who can fail to discern there a care for others that never sleeps? In connection with this it is very significant that our Lords first temptation was to work His first miracle for His own relief. A little while afterwards the Jews were in the wilderness. They had not fasted forty hours, and we do not read that any of them complained of hunger. But Christ made a feast for five thousand who would not turn one stone into bread for Himself. He that came to minister, etc., must not strike the wrong keynote of His life by making His first miracle a miracle for His own personal relief. In our Lords triumph over the next temptation you can see the same thoughtful love for the good of others. He could have cast Himself from the pinnacle of the temple, and no doubt it would have brought Him great applause, but whose tears would it have wiped away? So He kept His Divine resources in all their virgin freshness and fulness till presently the lepers crossed His path and He could cleanse them. We remember where the glory first broke forth. He who the other day would not turn stones into bread to appease His own hunger turned the water into wine to relieve His friends from embarrassment. Put the first temptation and the first miracle side by side, and how there flames out this ever blessed truth, Even Christ pleased not Himself.

2. After His first journey of mercy He went back again to Nazareth. He had gone to Capernaum, etc., and had conferred many blessings; but He returned as poor as He had left it. The people had heard what He had done: He knew what was in their hearts. He said, Ye will say to Me, Physician, heal Thyself. Why did not He who had done so much for others better His own circumstances? We must not be astonished at their incredulity. Here was a new thing in the earth. Here was a man unspeakably rich in resources, unspeakably lavish in His gifts; and He lived and died in deepest poverty.

3. As in life, so in death Christ pleased not Himself. When His burden of woe was becoming so heavy that His heart was like to break, the soldiers led by Judas went to seize Him; He put forth His power and they fell to the ground. He soon made it manifest that the deed of gentle violence had not been wrought for His own deliverance, but for the deliverance of others. Take Me and let My disciples go their way. The daughters of Jerusalem dropped their tears upon His way of grief. He bade them stay their tears, not because He spurned their sympathy, but because He would have them keep their energies for their own sorrow. How many more instances there are in that crucifixion that one might cite to the same purport! The cup of sorrows was held up to Him. Many and diverse were the elements in that cup. Judas put into it all the poison of his treachery, Peter the bitterness of his denial, the people the foul stream of their ingratitude, the soldiers their cruelty, the priests and Pharisees their deadly malignity, Herod his mockery, Pilate his unrighteousness, and the crowd, aided by the malefactor, their brutal and blasphemous revilings. And there were other bitter elements there, the reality and terribleness of which are testified to by Scripture. Yet He drank that cup that sinners might live.

II. The duty of the disciple. Lay stress on the word even.

1. Surely if any one could have done it wisely, and safely, and beneficially, He could have done it. He had no thought but what was wise, no will but what was good, no fear but what was sinless, no desire but what was honourable, and yet He hesitated not to take His thoughts, desires, and will, and bind them with cords for sacrifice, and lay them upon the altar. If Christ could deny Himself, what passion of ours is too noble, what pleasure too precious, what desire too honourable, what prejudice and prepossession too precious to be fastened to the Cross for ever, if the will of God and the claims of brotherly kindness and charity demand the sacrifice?

2. A Christ without self-denying love could not have saved the world. A church without self-denying love cannot carry on the work of Christ.

(1) And if our selfishness give birth to uselessness He will visit it with the punishment of perpetual uselessness. The man that did not use his talent, that did not employ his power for doing good, was punished in part by having the capacity for doing good taken away.

(2) On the other hand, if our generous love give birth to usefulness, our usefulness shall be rewarded by greater capacity and wider sphere for service. The man that had turned his talent into six talents, he was not welcomed into rest, he was welcomed into wider work. (C. Vince.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

15:3 This quotation is from Ps 69:9. • A number of passages in the New Testament use Psalm 69 to describe Jesus’ suffering (Matt 27:34; Mark 15:35-36; Luke 23:36; John 15:25; 19:28-29). Paul’s quotation of just a small portion of that psalm evokes the whole experience of Jesus’ suffering.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Rom 15:3. Ὁ Χριστὸς, Christ) who alone was truly δυνατὸς, strong, comp. Rom 15:1 with ch. 5 and 6: δυνατοὶ strong, ἀσθενεῖς weak.—οὐχ ἑαυτῷ, not Himself) Admirable συγκατάβασις, condescension! Not Himself but us, Rom 15:7-8; Psa 69:32: Christ procured ἀρέσκειαν, what is well-pleasing to God for those, who see and are glad [Referring to Psa 69:32, which see].—ἀλλὰ) but, viz., He took that upon Himself, which is written.—γέγραπται, it is written) Psa 69:10, with which comp. Rom 15:11-12, in the latter hemistich of either, it matters not which.—οἱ—ἐμὲ) So the LXX.—ἐπέπεσον, fell on) By right Christ might have borne Himself as God, and have enjoyed Divine honours, but He did not use His right, for our sakes, Php 2:6. He indeed thoroughly felt the reproaches, which wicked men cast upon God, with that sorrow, which they ought to have felt, who gave utterance to them; and He Himself bore and expiated those reproaches as patiently, as if He Himself had been the guilty person. His whole sufferings are here intended; He at that time performed the office of a minister [a servant], Mat 20:28. [At that time, He did not please Himself, but He interposed Himself, in order that in respect to [in the case of] all who had dishonoured GOD, GOD might receive what was well-pleasing [“caperet beneplacitum.” Or rather, that God might by the atonement, be enabled to exercise good-will consistently with justice]. It behoved Him to endure many things with patience, Rom 15:1; Rom 15:4.—V. g.]

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rom_15:3. Establishment of this duty by the pattern: for Christ also, etc.

ἀλλὰ, καθὼς κ.τ.λ.] but, as it is written, the reproaches of those reproaching thee fell on me. After ἀλλά a comma only is to be placed, and nothing is to be supplied, neither sibi displicuit with Erasmus, nor fecit with Grotius and others, nor ἐγένετο (Borger) and the like. Had Paul desired to express himself in purely narrative form, he would have written instead of σέ: Θεόν, and instead of ἐμέ: αὐτόν. But he retains the scriptural saying, which he adduces, literally, enhancing thereby the direct force and vivacity of the discourse. Comp. 1Co_1:31; Winer, 534, 556 [E. T. pp. 719, 749].

The passage is Psa_69:10 (literally after the LXX.), where the suffering subject is a type of the Messiah (comp. Rom_11:9; Joh_2:17; Joh_15:25; Joh_19:28).

That the reproaches of the enemies of God fell on Christ, i.e. that the enemies of God vented their fury on Christ, proves that Christ was bent on pleasing not Himself (for otherwise He would have abstained from taking these His sufferings upon Himself; comp. Heb_12:2-3, Php_2:6-8), but men, inasmuch as He in order to their redemption surrendered Himself, with full self-renunciation of His αὐτάρκεια, to the enmity against God of His adversaries. Calvin and others: Ita se Domino devovisse, ut descinderetur animo, quoties sacrum ejus nomen patere impiorum maledicentiae videret, so that the idea of self-denying devotion to the cause of God (so also de Wette and Philippi) is expressed. But according to the connection, it is the devotion of Christ, not for the cause of God, but for the salvation of humanity (see Rom_15:2), into fellowship of suffering with which He entered, that is to be proposed as an example. Comp. Mat_20:28.

ὀνειδισμός belongs to later Greek. See Lobeck, ad Phryn. p. 512.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rom 15:3 . καὶ γὰρ ὁ Χριστὸς κ . τ . λ . The duty of not pleasing ourselves is enforced by the example of Christ: He did not please Himself either. If this required proof, we might have expected Paul to prove it by adducing some incident in Christ’s life; but this is not what he does. He appeals to a psalm, which is in many places in the N.T. treated as having some reference to Christ ( e.g. , Joh 2:17 = Psa 69:9 , Joh 15:25 = Psa 69:4 , Mat 27:27-30 = Psa 69:12 , Mat 27:34 = Psa 69:21 , Rom 11:9 = Psa 69:22 , Act 1:20 = Psa 69:25 : see Perowne, The Psalms , i., p. 561 f.); and the words he quotes from it words spoken as it were by Christ Himself describe our Lord’s experiences in a way which shows that He was no self-pleaser. If He had been, He would never have given Himself up willingly, as He did, to such a fate. It is hardly conceivable that σε in Paul’s quotation indicates the man whom Christ is supposed to address: it can quite well be God, as in the psalm. Some have argued from this indirect proof of Christ’s character that Paul had no acquaintance with the facts of His life; but the inference is unsound. It would condemn all the N.T. writers of the same ignorance, for they never appeal to incidents in Christ’s life; and this summary of the whole character of Christ, possessing as it did for Paul and his readers the authority of inspiration, was more impressive than any isolated example of non-selfpleasing could have been.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3. καὶ γὰρ ὁ Χριστὸς κ.τ.λ. The precept just laid down is enforced by the example of Christ (cf. 14:15). As Christ bore our reproaches, so must we bear those of others.

καθὼς γέγραπται. St. Paul, instead of continuing the sentence, changes the construction and inserts a verse of the O. T. [Psa_48 (49):10 quoted exactly according to the LXX], which he puts into the mouth of Christ. For the construction cf. 9:7.

The Psalm quoted describes the sufferings at the hands of the ungodly of the typically righteous man, and passages taken from it are often in the N. T. referred to our Lord, to whom they would apply as being emphatically ‘the just one.’ Ver. 4 is quoted Joh 15:25, ver. 9a in Joh 2:17, ver. 9b in Rom 15:3, ver. 12 in Mat 27:27-30, ver. 21 in Mat 27:34, and Joh 19:29, ver. 22 f. in Rom 11:9, ver. 25a in Act 1:20. (See Liddon, ad loc.)

οἱ ὀνειδισμοί κ.τ.λ. In the original the righteous man is represented as addressing God and saying that the reproaches against God he has to bear. St. Paul transfers the words to Christ, who is represented as addressing a man. Christ declares that in suffering it was the reproaches or sufferings of others that He bore.

3. Baur sees here Ebionite Christians of the character represented by the Clementine literature, and in accordance with his general theory he regards them as representing the majority of the Roman Church. That this last addition to the theory is tenable seems impossible. So far as there is any definiteness in St. Paul’s language he clearly represents the ‘strong’ as directing the policy of the community. They are told to receive ‘him that is weak in faith’; they seem to have the power to admit him or reject him. All that he on his side can do is to indulge in excessive criticism. Nor is the first part of the theory really more satisfactory. Of the later Ebionites we have very considerable knowledge derived from the Clementine literature and from Epiphanius (Haer. xxx), but it is an anachronism to discover these developments in a period nearly two centuries earlier. Nor again is it conceivable that St. Paul would have treated a developed Judaism in the lenient manner in which he writes in this chapter.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rom_15:3

For even Christ pleased not himself, but as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me. For even Christ, so infinitely exalted above all Christians, was perfectly disinterested and condescending. The example of Christ is constantly held up, not merely as a model, but a motive. The disinterestedness of Christ is here illustrated by a reference to the fact that he suffered not for himself, but for the glory of God. The sorrow which he felt was not on account of his own privations and injuries, but zeal for Gods service consumed him, and it was the dishonor which was cast on God that broke his heart. The simple point to be illustrated is the disinterestedness of Christ, the fact that he did not please himself. And this is most affectingly done by saying, in the language of the Psalmist (Psa_69:9), The zeal of thy house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me; that is, such was my zeal for thee, that the reproaches cast on thee I felt as if directed against myself. This Psalm is so frequently quoted and applied to Christ in the New Testament, that it must be considered as directly prophetical. Compare Joh_2:17; Joh_15:25; Joh_19:28; Act_1:20.‹76›

Charles Hodge — Commentary on Romans (1835), First Corinthians (1857), and Ephesians (1856) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

A confirmation taken of the example of Christ, who suffered all things to bring not only the weak, but also his most cruel enemies, overcoming them with patience, to his Father.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

For even Christ pleased not--lived not to please

himself; but, as it is written-- (Psa 69:9).

The reproaches, &c.--see Mar 10:42-45.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 3. For even Christ pleased not himself] Christ never acted as one who sought his own ease or profit; he not only bore with the weakness, but with the insults, of his creatures; as it is written in Ps 69:9: The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me-I not only bore their insults, but bore the punishment due to them for their vicious and abominable conduct. That this Psalm refers to the Messiah and his sufferings for mankind is evident, not only from the quotation here, but also from Joh 19:28, Joh 19:29, when our Lord's receiving the vinegar during his expiatory suffering is said to be a fulfilling of the scripture, viz. of verse 21 of this very Psalm; Ps 69:21 and his cleansing the temple, Joh 2:15-17, is said to be a fulfilment of Ps 69:9: For the zeal of thy house hath eaten me up, the former part of which verse the apostle quotes here.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

3. For even Christ pleased not himself, etc. Since it is not right that a servant should refuse what his lord has himself undertaken, it would be very strange in us to wish an exemption from the duty of bearing the infirmities of others, to which Christ, in whom we glory as our Lord and King, submitted himself; for he having no regard for himself, gave up himself wholly to this service. For in him was really verified what the Prophet declares in Psalm 69:9,10: and among other things he mentions this, that “zeal for God’s house had eaten him up,” and that “the reproaches of those who reproached God fell on him.” By these words it is intimated, that he burned with so much fervor for God’s glory that he was possessed by such a desire to promote his kingdom, that he forgot himself, and was, as it were, absorbed with this one thought, and that he so devoted himself to the Lord that he was grieved in his soul whenever he perceived his holy name exposed to the slandering of the ungodly.

The second part, “the reproaches of God,” may indeed be understood in two ways, — either that he was not less affected by the contumelies which were heaped on God, than if he himself had endured them, — or, that he grieved not otherwise to see the wrong done to God, than if he himself had been the cause. But if Christ reigns in us, as he must necessarily reign in his people, this feeling is also vigorous in our hearts, so that whatever derogates from the glory of God does not otherwise grieve us than if it was done to ourselves. Away then with those whose highest wish is to gain honors from them who treat God’s name with all kinds of reproaches, tread Christ under foot, contumeliously rend, and with the sword and the flame persecute his gospel. It is not indeed safe to be so much honored by those by whom Christ is not only despised but also reproachfully treated.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(3) The reproaches. . . .—Literally, after the LXX. version of Psa_69:9, one of those Psalms of suffering which, like Isaiah 53, afford a type of the sufferings of the Messiah.

Reproached thee fell on me.—The insults directed against God Himself fell upon His servants.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3. For even Christ] Here first in the Epistle St Paul explicitly quotes the Lord’s Example. He soon repeats the reference, Rom_15:7. The main burthen of the Epistle has been His Sacrifice; but the more the Sacrifice is apprehended, the more powerful will the Example be felt to be. It will emphatically be “not merely a model, but a motive.”

pleased not himself] “Not My will, but Thine be done.”

To Messiah Himself, as to His people, suffering was in itself “not joyous, but grievous;” and, in that sense, it was against His will. The doing of His Father’s will involved sufferings; and in those sufferings He “pleased not Himself,” while yet He unutterably “delighted to do the will of Him that sent Him.” (Psa_40:8; Joh_4:34.)

as it is written] Psalms 69 (LXX. 68):9. The quotation is verbatim with LXX.—It has been doubted whether we are meant in this passage to view the Saviour as preferring the Father’s pleasure, or Man’s salvation, to His “own will.” The context (Rom_15:1-2) favours the latter; the words of the quotation favour the former. But as the two objects were inseparable in our Lord’s work, both may well be in view here. His “bearing reproach” was the necessary path, alike to “finishing His Father’s work,” and to saving the lost.

Does not St Paul here allude specially to the conflict of Gethsemane, and to the outrages which our Lord patiently bore just afterwards? He had scarcely said “Thy will be done,” when the awful “reproaches” of His night of shame and insult began.

reproached thee] God was “reproached” in effect, by those who, while claiming to act in His Name, were teaching and practising all that was alien to His love and holiness.—Such persons, when they beheld His true Likeness in His Son, inevitably hated and rejected it.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For whatsoever things were written aforetime,.... In the books of the Old Testament; the apostle says this, to vindicate the pertinency of the above citation, and to prevent any objection that might be made against it; since whatsoever was written in that psalm did not belong personally to David, but to Christ; and what is written concerning him, is designed for the use and instruction of his people; yea, whatever is written anywhere in the sacred Scriptures,

were written for our learning; to instruct in the knowledge of Christ, of his person, offices, grace, righteousness, obedience, sufferings, death, resurrection, and ascension; and of the great salvation and redemption he came to obtain, and has obtained; and to teach us the doctrines of grace, of pardon through the blood of Christ, atonement by his sacrifice, justification by his righteousness, acceptance in his person, and eternal life through him; as also to inform us of our duty, and how we ought to behave both towards God and men:

that we, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, might have hope; the Scriptures are not only written for our present instruction, but for the ingenerating, encouraging, and establishing, an hope of eternal Life in another world; which they are the means of, under the influence of divine grace; since they give us a clear account of eternal life; of the promise of it in Christ; of its being procured by him, and secured in him; of the means of enjoying it, through his blood and righteousness; of the declarations of God's free grace and mercy to sinners, and of the various instances of persons who have been made partakers of it; all which encourage to hope in the Lord, and to rejoice in hope of the glory of God; believing we also may have and enjoy the thing hoped for, "through patience and comfort of the Scriptures"; both which are encouraged thereby: the "patience of the Scriptures" is not a stoical apathy, a stupid indolence; and is of a different kind from that patience the writings of the Heathen philosophers define and recommend: the Scripture gives an account of the true nature of patience, in bearing all sorts of evils for Christ's sake; of the excellency and usefulness of it; and do strongly exhort unto it upon the best principles, and with the best motives; and are full of promises to the exercise of it, and furnish out the best examples of suffering affliction, and patience: "the comfort of the Scriptures" is such as is not to be met with elsewhere. These writings abound with exceeding great and precious promises, and excellent doctrines, big with consolation to the saints; and both serve much to cherish, support, and maintain an hope of eternal happiness; all which prove the divine authority, excellency, and usefulness of the sacred writings, and recommend the reading of them by us, and the hearing of them explained by others.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

3 For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me.

Ver. 3. For even Christ] And we should express him to the world, preach abroad his virtues by our practice, 1Pe 2:9. Our lives should be as so many sermons upon the life of Christ. This is to walk in Christ, Col 2:6, as Christ, 1Jn 3:6.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For even Christ - The apostle proceeds, in his usual manner, to illustrate what he had said by the example of the Saviour. To a Christian, the example of the Lord Jesus will furnish the most ready, certain, and happy illustration of the nature and extent of his duty.

Pleased not himself - This is not to be understood as if the Lord Jesus did not voluntarily and cheerfully engage in his great work. He was not “compelled” to come and suffer. Nor is it to be understood as if he did not “approve” the work, or see its propriety and fitness. If he had not, he would never have engaged in its sacrifices and self-denials. But the meaning may be expressed in the following particulars:

(1) He came to do the will or desire of God in “undertaking” the work of salvation. It was the will of God; it was agreeable to the divine purposes, and the Mediator did not consult his own happiness and honor in heaven, but cheerfully came to “do the will” of God; Psa 40:7-8; compare Heb 10:4-10; Phi 2:6; Joh 17:5.

(2) Christ when on earth, made it his great object to do the will of God, to finish the work which God had given him to do, and not to seek his own comfort and enjoyment. This he expressly affirms; Joh 6:38; Joh 5:30.

(3) He was willing for this to endure whatever trials and pains the will of God might demand, not seeking to avoid them or to shrink from them. See particularly his prayer in the garden; Luk 22:42.

(4) In his life, he did not seek personal comfort, wealth, or friends, or honors. He denied himself to promote the welfare of others; he was poor that they might be rich; he was in lonely places that he might seek out the needy and provide for them. Nay, he did not seek to preserve his own life when the appointed time came to die, but gave himself up for all.

(5) There may be another idea which the apostle had here. He bore with patience the ignorance, blindness, erroneous views, and ambitious projects of his disciples. He evinced kindness to them when in error; and was not harsh, censorious, or unkind, when they were filled with vain projects of ambition, or perverted his words, or were dull of apprehension. So says the apostle, “we” ought to do in relation to our brethren.

But as it is written - Psa 69:9. This psalm, and the former part of this verse, is referred to the Messiah; compare Rom 15:21, with Mat 27:34, Mat 27:48.

The reproaches - The calumnies, censures, harsh, opprobrious speeches.

Of them that reproached thee - Of the wicked, who vilified and abused the law and government of God.

Fell on me - In other words, Christ was willing to suffer reproach and contempt in order to do good to others. tie endured calumny and contempt all his life, from those who by their lips and lives calumniated God, or reproached their Maker. We may learn here,

(1) That the contempt of Jesus Christ is contempt of him who appointed him.

(2) We may see the kindness of the Lord Jesus in being willing thus to “throw himself” between the sinner and God; to “intercept,” as it were, our sins, and to bear the effects of them in his own person. He stood between “us” and God; and both the reproaches and the divine displeasure due to them, “met” on his sacred person, and produced the sorrows of the atonement - his bitter agony in the garden and on the cross. Jesus thus showed his love of God in being willing to bear the reproaches aimed at him; and his love to “men” in being willing to endure the sufferings necessary to atone for these very sins.

(3) If Jesus thus bore reproaches, “we” should be willing also to endure them. We suffer in the cause where be has gone before us, and where he has set us the example; and as “he” was abused and vilified, we should be willing to be so also.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

For even Christ pleased not himself: he backs his exhortation in Rom 14:1, with an argument taken from the practice of our Lord himself, who is our perfect pattern, and hath left us an example, that we should follow his steps: see Joh 13:15,34; 1Pe 2:21; 1Jo 2:6; 4:17. By Christ’s not pleasing himself, is meant his not indulging or sparing himself; he did not seek his own ease, nor to satisfy inclination of the human nature, which abhorreth pain, and the destruction of itself. He took such a course all along as sufficiently demonstrated that he respected our benefit, and not his own.

But; here is an ellipsis, something must he supplied to fill up the sense: either the meaning is, he pleased not himself, but others; or, he pleased not himself, but bore our infirmities and reproaches: or else, he pleased not himself, but it happened to him; or he so carried himself that it might be truly applied to him, which is written, &c.

As it is written; viz. in Psa 69:9. That David uttered these words in the person of Christ, or as a type of him, may appear from Joh 2:17. Interpreters are divided about accommodating this testimony to the occasion for which it is brought. Either the meaning is, that Christ did willingly expose himself to all the reproaches and contumelies of men, in obedience to his Father’s will; or else, that he and the same concernments with God the Father, so that what befell God did also befall him; he was as tender of the Father’s honour as of his own: or else, that the sins of men, which are things that cast reproach upon God, were taken by Christ upon himself, and he bore them in his body upon a tree. Seeing then that Christ hath done so much for our sakes, and hath not sought his own ease and benefit, we ought also to seek the good of others, and to deny ourselves: see Phi 2:6-8.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

3. Even Christ—And the strong Christian has before him the mightiest of all models. Entirely transcendent in unselfishness was the birth, the life, the death of Christ.

Written—Psa_69:9. This is one of the psalms predictive of the sufferings of the Messiah, and it indicates the very summit of Christ’s history of unselfishness. Thee refers to God. It was the height of Christ’s unselfishness patiently to endure on the cross the insults of the reproachers of God.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

HOMILIES BY S.F. ALDRIDGE Vers. 3, 4. Unselfishness.

That alliance is beneficial which lends the aid of the strong to bear the burdens of the weak. Sympathy renders this possible by its real participation in another"s distress. Sometimes the infirmities of others are succoured by yielding up our own gratification, or by restricting our own liberty in order not to shock the scruples of the less enlightened. What is our guide in such cases? The reply is To live in the spirit of Christ, to walk as he walked.

I CHRIST HAS INTRODUCED INTO MORALS A BEAUTIFUL MODEL AND A POWERFUL MOTIVE. His pattern life is best appreciated by comparing it with ancient heathen manners. The impossibility of inventing such an ideal is the proof of the genuineness of the Gospel narratives. The story is vivid and consistent because a record of fact. An example instructs more than any prolixity of statement or precept. Lecturers know this by their illustrations and experiments. It is one thing to hear of truth, goodness, beauty, from the lips of Plato; quite another to see it live and breathe before our eyes. Cicero could describe the "perfect man" according to his conceptions of perfection; Christ alone exemplified it. And the relationship of Christ to his followers, as not only Teacher but Saviour, imparts tenfold force to his example. He has definite claims upon our obedience, and dearest links of love bind us to the imitation of our Master. His life on earth has been a stream irrigating the parched desert, and has taught us how to make canals of philanthropic benevolence, deriving their idea and element from the river of his love. In fanatical Jerusalem and luxurious Antioch, in philosophic Athens and pleasure-loving Corinth, in colonial Philippi and imperial Rome, this river of grace proved its power to fertilize and beautify. And today we trace a likeness to Christ in the missionary, content to dwell in malarial swamps, and yield his life for the salvation of the degraded; in the tired mother cheerfully continuing at her household toil whilst she uplifts her thoughts to the Redeemer; and in the Church officer leaving his comfortable fireside after his day"s work is done to minister to a brother in sickness. In the repression of a hasty word and biting sarcasm, in the gift unostentatiously placed in the hands of the poor, we behold reflected the self-sacrifice of Christ.

II THE FEATURE OF CHRIST"S LIFE ON WHICH STRESS IS HERE LAID. He was unselfish; he "pleased not himself." This does not imply that he felt no personal pleasure in his mission of mercy. "I delight to do thy will, O my God." But:

1. He sought not to promote his own ease and comfort, but the edification of others. He would not pander to vitiated taste; he taught what men most needed to know, not what gratified the vanity of his hearers, though he, thereby aroused their enmity and created the storm which burst in wrath upon his head. At great cost of physical labour and spiritual weariness he performed works of love. See him asleep from fatigue in the heaving vessel, and fainting under the load of his cross.

2. He gloried not himself, but the work he came to accomplish. He might have summoned angels to his side, he might have led an uprising of the populace, have overawed the rulers, and selected the wisest and wealthiest as his companions and disciples. But the truth was more than all to him. His meat and drink were to do the will of his Father. He had left for this the splendour of the upper realms, and stooped to the form of a servant, and the obedience of a shameful, agonizing death.

III To FOLLOW CHRIST IS TO MAKE THE OLD TESTAMENT A WELLSPRING OF PATIENCE AND HOPE. The persecution which Christ met with showed him treading in the steps of Scripture heroes. The language of the psalmist is quoted by the apostle as typically expressing the lot of Christ. The chief pangs of a devoted life are caused by the opposition of an ungodly world. Our Lord exposed the hollow pretensions of the Jewish religionists by declaring that true love to God in the heart would listen to the teachings of his Son, would acknowledge in him the promised Messiah, and would recognize in his deeds the echo of the Scriptures. It fortifies Christian sufferers to know that they are in the line of the faithful. No new thing hath happened, for the same afflictions were accomplished in our brethren before. If, then, others have bravely endured and maintained their confidence, so may we. And the ancient writings testify that men, in pleasing God and serving their day and generation, realized true satisfaction, an inward peace and joy indestructible. So we, too, may discover that the road to happiness is holy self-denial. We are slow to learn that the bitter rind covers grateful fruit, that death is the gate to life, and humility the stepping-stone to honour. Obedience prepares us to wield authority; and to walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing is to prove how inseparably the kingdom of God and our own good are combined. Miserly selfishness overreaches itself; the restricted heart dies of inanition. He who will always get from others knows not the blessedness of giving. The wine of Christian charity flushes the spirit with a generous emotion, pure and God-like, the nectar of the skies. S.R.A.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But bore not only the infirmities, but reproaches, of his brethren; and so fulfilled that scripture. Psalm lxix, 9

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

CHRIST THE SAVIOR BOTH OF THE JEWS AND GENTILES

3-13. As the Jews had established colonies in all the important cities of the Gentile world, sojourning in all lands for mercantile purposes, and the apostles, who were all Jews, invariably being to the synagogues and giving their consanguinity their first service in every land whither they peregrinated; as a result all the so-called Gentile churches throughout Christendom contained a large Hebrew element. Such was pre-eminently true in Rome, the world’s metropolis, twice as large as New York at the present day. Hence the pertinency of showing forth in this epistle the magnanimity of Christ and the perfect availability of His vicarious atonement and redemptive economy to reach both Jews and Gentiles, as in these verses Paul not only beautifully certifies but corroborates by the testimony of the prophets.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For Christ also pleased not himself [The strong ought to give way to the weak because strength can yield better than weakness, since in so doing it in no way violates conscience and because this forbearance tends to build up the weak and make them strong. But this rule applies, of course, only to matters that are indifferent; in things that are erroneous or wrong we have no choice or discretion, but must stand for the right as God would have us. The only objection that the strong can urge against yielding to the weak is that to do so involves them in great sacrifice. In answer to this argument Paul sets forth the example of Christ. How can he that is self-pleasing, and that shrinks from sacrifice, make claim to be the disciple and follower of the One whose life was the supreme self-sacrifice of the annals of all time? Had Christ pleased himself hell itself might well shudder at the consequences]; but, as it is written [ Psa_69:9 ], The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell upon me . [When Christ bore the heavy burden of our reproaches and disgrace--our sin, and its consequences--can we not, as his disciples, cheerfully bear each other's light foibles and infirmities? We must not only be unselfishly fair; we must be self-denyingly generous, if we would be Christlike.]

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

3. For even Christ pleased not himself. Our duty to others is enforced by the example of Christ. He forgot himself in his work of saving men. So ought we to do. As it is written. In Psalm 69:9. The passage affirms that the Messiah, instead of pleasing himself, became the subject of “the reproaches of them who reproached” his Father.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

it was just as it is written

Here Paul refers to a scripture where Christ (the Messiah) speaks to God. You can translate this in an active form. AT: "the Messiah said to God in the scriptures" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information and Active or Passive)

The insults of those who insulted you fell on me

The insults of those who insulted God fell on Christ.

For whatever was previously written was written for our instruction

You can translate this in an active form. AT: "For in times past, the prophets wrote everything in the Scriptures to teach us" (See: Active or Passive)

our ... we

Paul includes his readers and other believers. (See: Inclusive "We")

in order that through patience and through encouragement of the scriptures we would have certain hope

Here "have confidence" means that the believers will know that God will fulfill his promises. You can make explicit the full meaning in your translation. AT: "In this way the scriptures will encourage us to expect that God will do for us everything that he has promised" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

translationWords

Christ

written

patient

word of God

confidence

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

3. καὶ γὰρ ὁ χριστὸς. Who is at once the standard and the inspiration of the Christian’s conduct. ὁ χρ. The Christ as we know Him in the life of Jesus.

ἀλλὰ καθὼς γέγρ. Psa 69:9: for constr. cf. Rom 9:7. The Christ submitted Himself to the reproaches heaped upon GOD, rather than please Himself. The quotation illustrates Christ’s principle in the extremest case: and the argument from it is a fortiori, Christians should act upon the principle in lesser difficulties. S. H. take it that S. Paul is using the quotation in a different sense from the original—taking σε = another man: but this seems unnecessary. The Psalm is frequently quoted in relation to Christ (Joh 2:17; Mat 27:27-30; Mat 27:34; Joh 19:29; and also Rom 11:9; Act 1:20, Lid.).

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3.] ἐξῆν αὐτῷ μὴ ὀνειδισθῆναι, ἐξῆν μὴ παθεῖν ἅπερ ἔπαθεν, εἴγε ἤθελε τὸ ἑαυτοῦ σκοπεῖν· ἀλλʼ ὅμως οὐκ ἠθέλησεν, ἀλλὰ τὸ ἡμέτερον σκοπήσας τὸ ἑαυτοῦ παρεῖδε, Chrys. Hom. xxvii. p. 721

The citation is made directly, without any thing to introduce the formula citandi, as in ch. 9:7, where even the formula itself is wanting:—there is no ellipsis. The words in the Messianic Psalm are addressed to the Father, not to those for whom Christ suffered: but they prove all that is here required, that He did not please Himself; His sufferings were undertaken on account of the Father’s good purpose—mere work which He gave Him to do.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.