Week 1: Introduction — His Very Heart

1.Ortlund opens by noting that while Christians know the facts of what Jesus has done, they often feel that Jesus is perpetually disappointed or frustrated with them. Does that description resonate with you? How would you honestly describe your felt sense of how Jesus views you on an ordinary day?

2.The book's entire argument pivots on Matthew 11:29, where Jesus says, "I am gentle and lowly in heart." Why does Ortlund consider this verse so remarkable? What is surprising about Jesus making this the one self-description of his inner life found in all four Gospels?

3.Ortlund draws a distinction between what Jesus has done (his works) and who Jesus is (his heart). Why does this distinction matter? Can you think of a relationship in your own life where knowing someone's heart changed how you received their actions?

4.The introduction frames the Puritans — writers like Thomas Goodwin, Richard Sibbes, and John Owen — as guides for this journey. What hesitations, if any, do you have about learning from writers who lived 400 years ago? What might they offer that contemporary writers sometimes miss?

5.Ortlund says the goal of the book is not to give readers a theological upgrade but to give them a new felt sense of Christ's heart. What is the difference between knowing a truth intellectually and feeling its weight? Where in your spiritual life do you sense that gap most acutely?

6.Jesus says, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). What kinds of burdens do you carry that you have been slow to bring to Christ? What does Jesus' self-description as "gentle and lowly" suggest about why people hesitate to come?

7.How does the gospel — understood not just as what Jesus did but as who Jesus is — begin to look different in light of the introduction's argument? How might this perspective change the way you read the rest of the New Testament?