Christ Did Not Please Himself

The strong are to bear the weaknesses of others rather than please themselves. Paul grounds the command in Christ: “even Christ pleased not himself,” then directly applies Psalm 69:9 to him—“the reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me.” This is explicit New Testament Christological interpretation of the psalm.

Paul immediately explains why the older Scriptures matter: things written beforehand were written for believers’ learning so that through endurance and the encouragement of Scripture they might have hope. Scripture’s canonical role is therefore not merely to supply predictions; its patterns of faithful suffering, reproach, endurance, and hope form the church around Christ.