<p>15:4 <i>For whatever things were written previously were written for our education</i><i>, that through patience and through the comfort of the scriptures we might have hope</i>- Paul has just quoted a prophecy of the Lord's sufferings; and he has drawn a bridge between Him there, and us today. His sufferings are ours. In the first century Roman context, our patience with legalists and their taunts is a form of sharing His experience on the cross. Those things were therefore written for us, as well as Him. And they are therefore for our &quot;comfort&quot;. The <i>paraklesis</i>, &quot;comfort&quot;, is literally a 'coming near'. He there in His time of dying comes near to us, in that all He suffered is in essence what we do in various ways.</p>