Nothing against this book, but I don’t have a lot to say, but I promised myself I’d do better about posting in this genre, so here we go.

Gentle and Lowly

Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers

by Dane C. Ortlund

Kindle Edition, 224 pg.
Crossway, 2020

Read: January 3-10, 2021
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

What’s Gentle and Lowly About?

We are not focusing centrally on what Christ has done. We are considering who he is. The two matters are bound up together and indeed interdependent. But they are distinct.

…It is one thing to know the doctrines of the incarnation and the atonement and a hundred other vital doctrines. It is another, more searching matter to know his heart for you.

Where most books on Jesus Christ focus on His work or nature, Ortland focuses on who He is—what He’s revealed to His people. As you might guess from the title, he focuses on Matthew 11:29 the phrase, “I am gentle and lowly in heart,” in particular. But he develops the idea through numerous Gospel passages.

Ortland does spend time on the Spirit and Father, showing how they are both revealed to have a similar heart. He follows that up with material from the Epistles, focusing on the Risen and Ascended Christ, still displaying the same care, the same heart for His people.

Standing on the Shoulders

In this study, Ortlund draws on insights from the Puritans Thomas Goodwin, Richard Sibbes, and John Owen (some others, including some relatively modern writers, too). Naturally, I found this material very rewarding. Ortland takes his cues from the best of the English Reformed tradition and it shows in his work.

I do sort of wish that the footnotes pointed to things other than various authors collected works, I think in some cases the material is available in other editions, and it’d be nice if it was easier to find, he makes you want to read more by these men on those topics. But that’s beside the point.

So, what did I think about Gentle and Lowly?

“Gentle and lowly” does not mean “mushy and frothy.”

But for the penitent, his heart of gentle embrace is never outmatched by our sins and foibles and insecurities and doubts and anxieties and failures. For lowly gentleness is not one way Jesus occasionally acts toward others. Gentleness is who he is. It is his heart. He can’t un-gentle himself toward his own any more than you or I can change our eye color. It’s who we are.

There’s nothing revolutionary to be found here, but there’s good, solid, reassuring material. It’s impossible to read this book and not be encouraged to draw near to Him and taking His yoke. It’s an easy read, very accessible, and one that’s well worth your time and attention.

3 Stars

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