I remember thinking, as I read Gentle and Lowly, “This is going to become a classic.” Like so many others, I immediately melted into a puddle as I read this little book.

The question is, “What is God’s heart towards sinners?” Ortlund answers with Jesus’ own words…

In the one place in the Bible where the Son of God pulls back the veil and lets us peer way down into the core of who he is, we are not told that he is ‘austere and demanding in heart.’ We are not told that he is ‘exalted and dignified in heart.’ We are not even told that he is ‘joyful and generous in heart.’ Letting Jesus set the terms, his surprising claim is that he is ‘gentle and lowly in heart.’

Ortlund goes on to explain that our Lord moves towards us in our sin, not away from us. His grace and mercy overflows in ways that we seldom imagine. Ortlund presents Jesus to the reader as one who will never cast us away, though we might feel as if we deserve to be.

This book is not without controversy though. Some have argued that it’s an unbalanced view of Christ, overemphasizing his love and gentleness while down playing his justice and holiness. But Ortlund addresses that in the book by saying that his focus is to emphasize that which Christ emphasizes: “We are simply seeking to follow the biblical witness in speaking of Christ’s heart of affection toward sinners and sufferers. In other words, if there appears to be some sense of disproportion in the Bible’s portrait of Christ, then let us be accordingly disproportionate. Better to be biblical than artificially ‘balanced.’”

It’s hard for me to pick a singular “favorite book.” But, Gentle and Lowly would be a contender. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to you. In fact, it ought to be mandatory reading for all Christians.