Paul doesn\u2019t often appeal to the teachings of Jesus. Sometimes Paul simply takes a big global snapshot of Jesus \u2014 like one of those pictures from the space rockets of planet earth. In Romans 15:3, Paul says \u201cFor Christ did not please himself.\u201d We learn plenty here:
\nFirst, we learn what Paul means by \u201cpleasing oneself.\u201d It means self-preservation at the expense of building others up.
\nSecond, it sure seems to me that Paul is referring to Mark 10:45 \u2014 the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. The OT support, drawn from Psalm 69:9, speaks of the righteous Israelite whose zeal for the house of the Lord drew opposition and was met by endurance to the bitter end \u2014 as it was also enveloped by confidence of vindication.
\nThird, this leads Paul to a reflection: the ancient Scriptures were written then but are valuable for us now in order to generate hope in us.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Paul doesn\u2019t often appeal to the teachings of Jesus. Sometimes Paul simply takes a big global snapshot of Jesus \u2014 like one of those pictures from the space rockets of planet earth. In Romans 15:3, Paul says \u201cFor Christ did not please himself.\u201d We learn plenty here:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1752],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-romans"],"yoast_head":"\n