Chapter One: His Very Heart

When we think of Jesus Christ, what comes to your mind?

What do you think about Jesus when you hear the phrase his heart?

As noted by Charles Spurgeon, there is only one passage of Scripture in the Gospels that speak of the heart of Christ: Matthew 11:28-30.

Matthew 11:28–30 ESV

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Jesus says he is gentle and lowly in heart. Now, as we look at Scripture we learn quite a bit about the term heart. It is popular today to hear the phrase, “Just follow your heart!”

The heart, as with many terms that we use frequently, is well-understood, but also misunderstood. And for a word that appears a little less than 1,000 times in the Scriptures, it is important that we understand this term.

In his book With All Your Heart, Craig Troxel describes the depth of this word by using unity and complexity. In this we are considering our minds, emotions, and will. Now, Troxel is describing this in relation to us human beings in response to God (“love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength”).

To put it in Dane Ortlund’s words, “Our heart is what defines and directs us.” (18)

Introduction

Before we return to the question about Jesus’s heart, let us note who Jesus is calling. He says, “Come to me…” It is a command, but it is a qualified command. It is not that all are invited to come, it is only that a specific group of individuals is invited to come.

They are laboring and are heavy laden. In the context, Jesus was calling those on whom the Pharisees and religious leaders laid incredible burdens. Laws that they were unable to remember, let alone to honor and obey.

I have a copy of the Babylonian Talmud, which is a collection of the oral traditions in written format that seeks to expand on biblical truths. Volume 2 is on the Sabbath and is over 700 pages. These questions deal with things such as, if a beggar accepts a handout from someone, who violated the Sabbath?

Over 700 pages of such discussions. On one hand, this attention to detail is admirable. They cared deeply about the Word of God. On the other hand, it was insane. There was no way they would be able to keep this up. In other words, they labored and were heavy laden.

Perhaps you feel that you must do things in order to be saved. Or, perhaps you feel a weight that you must please God by a variety of activities. You may think you have to come to Church to make God happy, that you must read your Bible to make God happy, that you must keep a squeaky-clean life in order to have a relationship with God.

We return, then, to our original question, “What do you think about when you hear ‘the heart of Jesus’?” If your answer to that is not gentle and lowly, then you do not have a biblical view of the Lord Jesus.

That is our goal for this study. Much of what we will talk about will come from Dane Ortlund’s book Gentle & Lowly. Thanks to some anonymous giver’s generosity, we should have enough copies for everyone. As we work through this series, we will work in his book much, but we will spend time in the Scripture. My prayer is that we all come to know the Lord Jesus better, and therefore learn who this gentle and lowly one is.

I. Christ is Gentle

Christ describes himself as gentle in heart. The two terms he uses are very similar, but gentle means meek, humble. Ortlund writes, “He is the most understanding person in the universe. The posture most natural to him is not a pointed finger but open arms.” (19)

Jesus is gentle in heart. We will see the implications of this as we continue to work through this book together, but consider this foundational truth that Jesus is gentle in heart.

II. Christ is Lowly

Christ is also lowly in heart. Obviously, there is some overlap here with gentleness. He is humble. Scripture speaks much on the humility of Christ. Philippians 2:5-8 speaks of this.

Philippians 2:5–8 ESV

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Christ is lowly, humble, in heart. Mark Jones says, “There has never been a greater humiliation of a person than that of Jesus. No one has ever descended so low because no one has ever come from so high.” (Mark Jones, Knowing Christ, 117)

He goes on the contrast the humility of Christ, “The Son who thirsted was the same who made water; the Son who was too tired to carry his cross was the same who upholds the entire world; the Son whose side was pierced was the same who gave breath and life to the one who did it.” (Jones, Knowing Christ, 119)

Ortlund connects these powerful thoughts to us, writing, “The point in saying that Jesus is lowly is that he is accessible. For all his resplendent glory and dazzling holiness, his supreme uniqueness and otherness, no one in human history has ever been more approachable than Jesus Christ.” (20)

This is the one who is gentle and lowly in heart. This is Jesus.

This Jesus who calls all who labor and are heavy laden to come tells us something so sweet: I will give you rest. You have the hard work and burdens weighing you down, Jesus, the lowly and gentle Jesus, has the rest. And He simply gives it to you. He gives you rest, and it comes in the ironic statement of yoke and burden.

Surely, the Christian life is not easy. It is war. However, our gentle and lowly in heart Savior bestows an easy yoke, a wonderfully restful-burden. Would you come to this Jesus?