Romans 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., John 2:17 = Psalms 69:9; John 15:25 = Psalms 69:4; Matthew 27:27-30 = Psalms 69:12; Matthew 27:34 = Psalms 69:21; Romans 11:9 = Psalms 69:22; Acts 1:20 = Psalms 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.