The Example of Jesus

We have seen repeatedly in Romans that the Holy Spirit is carrying out His work of sanctification in justified believers, and the goal of that work is to conform them to the image of Christ. Therefore, it is not surprising that Paul, having exhorted the Romans to restrict the exercise of their liberty when it might be damaging to the faith of a brother or sister, should hold up Jesus as the prime example of such a willingness to sacrifice personal desires.

Jesus, Paul says, “did not please Himself.” What could be more evident? As we all know from the Gospel story, Jesus did His Father’s bidding at a terrible cost to Himself. He, the Lord of glory, set aside His heavenly privileges and came to earth as a man. And He came for the express purpose of dying a horrendous death as a substitute for His people. But those were not the only humiliations He endured. The Scriptures declare that “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him” (John 1:11). It was not that “His own,” the people of Israel, simply ignored Him—on the contrary, they seemingly did everything in their power to revile Him. Paul makes this point by quoting from Psalm 69, one of the best-known Messianic psalms, the ninth verse of which speaks of the “reproaches” the Messiah had to undergo. He experienced hatred, insults, false accusations, mockery, and opposition. At least in His human nature, this could not have been His preference. But His aim was to please not Himself but His Father, and to serve the need of His people. This attitude should be ours. “Our calling is to be like Jesus Christ, who endured the worst men could do to Him in order to please His Father and win our salvation,” Dr. James M. Boice writes. “Since that is our high calling, we should be able to overlook the many ways in which other Christians differ from us and get on with the task of building them up and then striving to grow together with them in the Christian life.”

Verse 4 seems rather disconnected from what precedes and follows it, but Paul is simply reminding his readers that the Scriptures are given by God for just such a purpose as he uses them in verse 3—to teach us, and to develop in us patience in our struggle for growth and comfort when we fail. Diligent study of God’s Word will yield hope—assurance that God is doing a good work in us.