Gentle and Lowly

Dane Ortlund, a pastor and theologian, writes for Christians who feel discouraged, weary, or convinced that God's patience with them is wearing thin. His central thesis is that the deepest, most defining reality of who Jesus Christ is, his very heart, is one of gentleness and tenderness toward sinners and sufferers. Ortlund distinguishes between what Christ has done (his atoning work on the cross) and who Christ is (his heart), arguing that the gospel offers believers not only legal forgiveness but intimate knowledge of Christ's inner disposition toward them. The book combines close readings of biblical passages with teachings from Puritan theologians of 17th-century England, especially Thomas Goodwin, alongside Richard Sibbes, John Bunyan, and John Owen, as well as later figures such as Jonathan Edwards, Charles Spurgeon, and B. B. Warfield.

Ortlund begins with Matthew 11:28–30, the sole passage in the four Gospels where Jesus explicitly describes his own heart: "I am gentle and lowly in heart." He defines the biblical concept of "heart" not as mere emotion but as the motivational center of a person's entire being. The Greek words for "gentle" and "lowly" convey meekness, humility, and radical accessibility. Christ's invitation extends to all who "labor and are heavy laden," meaning one's very burden qualifies a person to come. Citing Goodwin, Ortlund argues that people instinctively project a harsh disposition onto Christ because of his holiness, but Christ insists the opposite is true: gentleness is his nature.

The book then catalogs Gospel episodes proving this heart through action: healing a leper, forgiving a paralytic before being asked, feeding the hungry, comforting the bereaved. The Greek word for "compassion" (splanchnizo, referring to one's innermost core) shows that Christ's mercy flows from his deepest nature. Ortlund addresses Christ's harsher side by clarifying that wrath and mercy rise and fall together rather than opposing each other, and that the biblical witness itself weights Christ's affection heavily.

Turning to Hebrews, Ortlund draws on Goodwin to argue that Christ's own joy increases when he shows mercy to his people. Hebrews 4:15 reveals Christ's felt solidarity with believers in their weaknesses: The Greek word for "sympathize" means "to co-suffer." Christ's sinlessness does not distance him from human experience but means he felt temptation more acutely than any sinful person could. Hebrews 5:2 adds that Christ "deals gently" with "the ignorant and wayward," a comprehensive pair covering all sins, both accidental and deliberate. Through Bunyan's meditation on John 6:37, Ortlund examines the emphatic double negative in Christ's promise: "I will not, not, cast out" (61–62). Bunyan addresses the endless objections anxious sinners raise, each met with the same assurance. Ortlund calls this not merely the doctrine of eternal security but the "perseverance of the heart of Christ," a matter not only of divine decree but of divine desire.

The book next examines what believers' sins evoke in Christ. Using Hosea 11:7–9, Ortlund argues that the sins of those who belong to God draw out not primarily wrath but compassion. God's people are "bent on turning away," yet God's "heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender." The startling logic is that God's holiness is what makes him unable to come in wrath against his people, the opposite of what human intuition expects. Goodwin explains that Christ "takes part with you" against your sin, not against you because of your sin.

Two chapters treat the interrelated doctrines of Christ's heavenly intercession and advocacy. Intercession, based on Hebrews 7:25, is the continuous application of Christ's atoning work in the present. Advocacy, based on 1 John 2:1, rises in response to specific sins. These doctrines free believers from compulsive self-advocacy: Because Christ defends their cause, they can "lay our hand upon our mouth, and be silent" (94).

Edwards introduces the theme of Christ's beauty, arguing that what attracts people to God is not sheer greatness but moral and spiritual glory: his goodness, mildness, and meekness. Ortlund applies this to parenting, contending that the greatest gift parents can give their children is to make the tender heart of Christ irresistible, so they leave home unable to believe their sins repel him. Warfield's 1912 essay on the emotional life of Christ provides the framework for understanding compassion and anger as interrelated. Because Jesus was sinlessly human, his compassion was unfiltered by the self-absorption that restricts fallen humans. In Christ, compassion and indignation rise together, as at the death of Lazarus in John 11, where the verb used describes not grief but fury directed at death itself: "Not in cold unconcern, but in flaming wrath against the foe, Jesus smites in our behalf" (117).

Ortlund examines Christ as a friend, drawing on Sibbes's teaching that Christ's friendship involves mutual consent, sympathy, liberty, and solace. He then argues that the Holy Spirit's role is to make Christ's heart experientially real to believers, not merely intellectually known. Citing Goodwin, he explains that the Spirit will "tell you, if you will listen to him, and not grieve him, nothing but stories of my love" (124). The Father's heart, explored through 2 Corinthians 1:3, is shown to be one and the same as the Son's. Ortlund introduces the pactum salutis (the covenant of redemption), an agreement within the Trinity in eternity past to redeem sinners, arguing that the Father did not need more persuading than the Son. John 14:9 confirms that the heart of Christ is the heart of God: "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father."

The book turns to the Old Testament. Lamentations 3:33, "He does not afflict from his heart," stands at the literary center of the book of Lamentations. Goodwin contrasts God's acts of mercy, done "with his whole heart," with acts of justice, in which there is always "something in his heart against it." Exodus 34:6–7, the supreme Old Testament self-revelation of God, confirms this asymmetry: God's first self-descriptors are "merciful and gracious," and his covenant love extends to a thousand generations while consequences for sin reach only to the third or fourth. Isaiah 55:6–9, commonly quoted as a statement about mysterious providence, is in context about the depth of God's compassionate heart: His mercy stretches beyond our mental horizon. Jeremiah 31:20 reveals that God's "heart yearns" for his wayward people, using a Hebrew word (hamah) denoting restlessness and even roaring.

Returning to the New Testament, Ortlund examines Ephesians 2:1–7, where "rich in mercy," the only thing God is called rich in anywhere in Scripture, is the reason God saves dead sinners. Galatians exposes what Ortlund calls "of-works-ness," a deep psychological pattern of score-keeping and anxiety that prevents believers from living out of Christ's heart. Romans 5:6–11 provides the logical capstone: If God loved us when we were enemies, how much more will he love us now that we are reconciled. John 13:1 launches the passion narrative and proves that Christ's love has no endpoint. Ortlund reflects, with Warfield, that it was the withdrawal of God's love from Christ's heart, not physical suffering, that killed him on the cross (200–201).

The final chapter presents Ephesians 2:7 as the revelation of creation's ultimate purpose: that God might display the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward believers in Christ Jesus. Edwards argues that creation itself existed so that the Son might fully exercise the infinite benevolence of his nature. The epilogue distills the book into a single imperative: go to Jesus. Quoting Goodwin, Ortlund concludes: "If you knew his heart, you would" (216).