Lion and Lamb: The Relentless Tenderness of Jesus

by Brennan Manning

1986 CHOSEN BOOKS SOFTCOVER

Genres: Christian, Nonfiction, Faith, Christianity, Spirituality, Theology, Christian Living

190 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1986

About the author

Richard Francis Xavier Manning, known as Brennan Manning (April 27, 1934 – April 12, 2013) was an American author, friar, priest, contemplative and speaker.Born and raised in Depression-era New York City, Manning finished high school, enlisted in the US Marine Corps, and fought in the Korean War. After returning to the United States, he enrolled at Saint Francis University in Loretto, Pennsylvania. Upon his graduation from the seminary in 1963, Manning was ordained a Franciscan priest.[2]

In the late 1960s, Manning joined the Little Brothers of Jesus of Charles de Foucauld, a religious institute committed to an uncloistered, contemplative life among the poor. Manning transported water via donkey, worked as a mason's assistant and a dishwasher in France, was imprisoned (by choice) in Switzerland, and spent six months in a remote cave somewhere in the Zaragoza desert. In the 1970s, Manning returned to the United States and began writing after confronting his alcoholism.

Reviews

[Addie Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

2026:
“The most important thing that ever happens in prayer is letting ourselves be loved by God. "Be still, and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10). It's like slipping into a tub of water and letting God's love wash over us, enfold us. Prayer is like sunbathing… Through prayerlyou not only know God's love, you realize it; you are in conscious communion with it.”

So good. This is a treasure of a book.

2022: I couldn’t recommend this book enough. It’s a book I can see myself coming back to again and again. I got so many notes and quotes from it, and it is completely reframing the way I view Jesus and his love for me. Many tears were shed while reading this book, just taking in the picture of being fully loved and known and accepted by Jesus while deserving none of it. Read it!!!

[LaRae☕️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although Manning and I don't agree on everything theologically, I got so much out of this book! It has given me much to ponder and pray over. I actually marked up the book quite a bit, but here are a few quotes that really resonated with me:

"For many people in the church, Christianity is not Good News. The Gospel is not the glad tidings of freedom and salvation proclaimed by Christ Jesus but a rigid code of dos and don'ts, a tedious moralizing, a list of minimum requirements for avoiding the pains of hell."

"As we stand on Calvary on Good Friday, one truth we learn is not to apply to the heart of Jesus the measure of our own stingy little hearts, so mean, so narrow and so hard. If we make Him as fussy, unforgiving and vindictive as we are at our worst, we will never comprehend how good, how patient and compassionate, how gentle and extravagant Jesus of Nazareth really is."

"Biblically, compassion means action."

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will read this again. And again.

[Campbell Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The Lion and the Shepherd are one and the same. Ferocious pursuit and unwavering compassion are dual facts of the tremendous Lover who knows not only what hurts us but also how to heal us.”
I’m gonna leave it at that. This book was incredibly restful yet challenging, and profoundly articulated the heart of Christ for us and the ways we often overcomplicate His ultimate intention. Loved loved loved. Caught myself re-reading pages to soak it all up- lots to process here but could go on about this book for a while!

[Patricia W. Shaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

Manning is one soulful, deeply moving writer about the love of Jesus because he's experienced all kinds of lows, suffering in his own life so when he writes, it's his personal journey of experiencing unconditional love of his Savior. His writing always makes me weep & convicts the heart of the reader!

A MUST READ!! ALL of his books are amazing!

[Ryan Koenig · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is phenomenal. “Come as you are, not as you should be—because you’ll never be as you should be.”

An encouraging, well-written, powerful book on the compassion and love of Jesus.

It’s worth reading for the chapter on pioneer theology v. settler theology alone.

[Matt D’Aquino · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another deep read of Gods Grace by Brennan Manning. This book has inspired me to prayer more, listen more and to develop a pray er relationship on a deeper level.

[Anita Yoder · Rating 3 out of 5]

A beautiful, comforting reminder of what is eternally true.

[Justin Docherty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply Beautiful

A manifesto of mercy, an invitation into the extraordinarily intimate, a whisper to awaken the heart from arduous performance, and rest again in child-like forgetfulness, remembering only love, hearing only song, and feeling upon our sun-burnt brows the fresh kiss of Jesus Christ’s relentless tenderness. Recommended.

[Tori Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The man with the clear head is the man who frees himself from fantasy and looks life in the face, realizes that everything in it is problematic, and feels himself lost. And this is the simple truth—that to live is to feel oneself lost. Whoever accepts this has already begun to find himself, to be on firm ground.”

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brennan Manning’s writing always stirs my hunger to know the Love of Christ more… I recommend!!

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read a lot of Brennan Manning in my early 20s. Now in my mid-40s, he reads very different. I was intrigued to find out that many of the deepest theological influences in my life - Berrigan, Rahner, Merton, Balthasar, etc - pervade his work. This brought me to tears, but also moved me to a deeper prayer life. Manning's wisdom is more profound to me now, two decades later.

[Sonja · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not one of my favorites but I did love chapter 4, "The Affluent Poor." This particular chapter really spoke to my heart. The rest of the book was ok but I didn't really understand the main analogy of the book. So if you read this book just read chapter 4 and forget the rest.

[Carley Serwat · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so unassuming on the outside. My copy in particular is stained and old, rescued from the recycle bin at a local thrift store and sat collecting dust for the last few years on my shelf.

When I saw it in the bin, and again on my shelf recently, it was the title that caught my attention. I also have skimmed Ragamuffin Gospel by Manning years ago and loved it, and people I respect theologically speak highly of him. So it seemed like a good pool-side read on my current holiday. 🏝️

I would describe Manning as a combination of Henri Nouwen and Francis Chan. As a contemplative Catholic mystic, Brennan Manning has a way of writing so powerfully to the heart, yet everything he writes is so theologically rich and profound. I could spend days meditating on any one of these quotes.

The book is broken up into 3 parts:

1. Experiencing Jesus
2. Jesus at Easter
3. Jesus at Christmas

Based on the title, I thought it was going to be similar to “Gentle and Lowly” by Dane Ortlund - a book I picked up multiple times and just couldn’t get into. I can’t judge Ortland and if you loved that book, I’m glad for you! For me, Manning doesn’t just tell you about Jesus’ tenderness and list relevant Bible verses as it feels Ortland does, he takes your hand and leads you into a Spirit- filled experience of the tenderness of God while quoting amazing stories and historical figures throughout Christendom. I was teary eyed most pages as his words washed over my soul.

To be honest, my personality and theological background has made it easy to overlook the relentless tenderness of Jesus. I’m strong willed and determined with a fierce inner critic, and I find it is easier for me to relate to God in the same way. But as I have spent the last 18 months looking at the question of violence in the Bible and reevaluating the idea of a harsh and demanding Jesus (who is gracious and slow to anger to everyone but me), that view is breaking down and being replaced by an understanding of God that is more kind and tender than I could have ever imagined.

Also, having been focused on violence for so long, it was wonderful to spend some time looking at the opposite of violence – which is the beautiful gentleness of God. Not only is God not violent and harsh, his tender and compassionate heart is who he is entirely. I don’t think I have grasped that reality as much as I needed to before reading this book - it was a perfectly timed read for this journey into gentleness where I currently find myself.

I probably could have written out every quote from every page of this short piece. Undoubtedly, I will be buying a hardcover, sturdy copy as a staple to have in my library and read on a regular basis.

10/10 recommend if you’re needing an encounter with our tender God - and also a bit of a kick in the pants because while Manning speaks of these beautiful and warm characteristics of God, he doesn’t pull any punches.

[Aronkai · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quotes:

One of the handful of books that have had a profound impact on my life is the late Paul Tillich's The Shaking of the Foundations. It contains this passage:
"To be struck by grace does not mean that we are simply making progress in our moral self-control, in our fight against special faults, and in our relationships to others. Moral progress may be a fruit of grace, but it is not grace itself."

"Grace strikes us when we are in great pain and restlessness. It strikes us when we walk through the dark valley of a meaningless and empty life... Grace strikes us when our disgust for our own being, our indifference, our weakness, our hostility, and our lack of direction and composure have become intolerable to us.

"Sometimes at that moment a wave of light breaks into our darkness and it is as though a voice were saying: 'You are accepted. You are accepted by that which is greater than you... Do not seek for anything; do not perform anything; do not intend anything. Simply accept the fact that you are accepted.'

"If that happens to us, we experience grace. After such an experience we may not be better than before, and we may not believe more than before. But everything is transformed."

Such an experience is not the result of reasoning or spiritual striving. It is a fruit of the Spirit that normally matures in prayer where the awareness of God's acceptance is discovered and later deepened. It is one thing to know Jesus Christ loves us and another thing to realize it. In prayer we slow down to a human tempo and make time to listen. In prayer we discover what we already have. You start form where you are and realize that you are already there. We already have everything, but many of us don't know it and therefore don't experience it. Everything has been given to us by the Father in Jesus. All we need now is to experience what we already possess. The most precious moments of prayer consist in letting ourselves be loved by the Lord.


Nine: Lion and Lamb: The Relentless Tenderness of Jesus

Gods love is based on nothing, and the fact that it is based on nothing makes us secure. 18 Now: unlike ourselves, the Father of Jesus loves men and women not for what He finds in them but for what lies within Himself. 19 For legalism is born of fear. It is a religious response to human fear. What makes legalism so yes It makes absolute something that is humanly manufactured- man-made laws-and then goes on to justify its position by declaring that what has been absolutized is so by God's will. Attractive is that it meets a basic human need-security. 121

Legalism is second-hand faith. 123

...our coherent sense of self must be rooted not in illusory differences but in our shared humanity. 131

He invites us into the fellowship of saved sinners wherein our identity and glory lie not in titles, trinkets, honorary degrees, and imaginary differences but in our 'new self' in Christ irrevocably bonded to Our brothers and sisters in the family of God. 132

It is simply not possible to know the Christ of the Gospels unless we alter our attitude toward ourselves and take sides with Him, against our own self-evaluation. 132

...'if you love yourself intensely and freely then your feelings about yourself correspond perfectly to the sentiments of Jesus.' 132

love we withhold through our power struggles in marriage and in relationships is liberated through our union with Jesus. 133

Self-centered guilt closes me in upon myself and pre-empts tee presence of a compassionate God. 133

Biblically compassion means action. 134

It requires Maturity. a big heart, a willingness to risk, and imagination.' 135

Of one thing I am certain: compassion is the name by which Jesus has revealed Himself to me and my own identity becomes ambiguous, tentative, and confused whenever I allow anything but the relentless tenderness of the Lion-Lamb of God to dictate my perception of reality - be it self-righteous anger, defensiveness, the desire to win, the pressing need to change others, carping criticisms a gnawing hunger for vindication, frustration at the blindness of others, whatever. Am 1 in Harmony with myself or alienated from the real me? 137

As you close this chapter I ask our Father that you be led by Spirit to set free the song that sleeps in the wounded flesh of brother or sister. 137

Jesus at Christmas

Ten – The Great Season of Hope

Jesus Christmases in us whenever people come home to themselves in our presence, and when they feel a little less hopeful and joyful because we are absent.' 139

Christians are a people of hope to the extent that others can find in us a source of strength and joy. lf not, our profession of faith "by the power of the Holy Spirit He was born of the Virgin Mary and became man" is as academic, tentative, and hopeless as the alcoholic who promises "I'll quit tomorrow." To know means to be transformed by what one knows. 139

The attempt to reduce the Lord Jesus to a manageable size is a common but fatal error. It robs Him of His Otherness and confines Him to the world of our mental limits. Aquinas warned against this: if you comprehend God, He is not God.'... The secret is to know that 'The Son of God is always greater.' No matter how great we think Him to be, He is always greater." l van Breeman 140

Eleven – The Crisis of Christmas

This self-assessment is not only honest, it is consoling freeing for anyone caught up in the oppression of thinking that God can work only through saints.

Faith is a commitment to Truth, who is Jesus Christ. Faith is dedication to Reality, who is Jesus Christ. Wben my mind gives to things the Importance they have in reality, I am living in the truth. 142

The invisible world would become more real than visible, the world of what I believe more real than the world of what I see, Christ more real than myself. 144

Within His inner circle, Jesus never allowed veneration, love, affection, or admiration to substitute for faith. 146

Maurice Blondel said, if you want to know what a person really believes, don't listen to what he says but watch what he does." 146

The Christian who yields a hundredfold wants Jesus Christ and wants to want nothing else. He has directed his whole life to seeking Jesus, to developing a personal relationship with Him, to growing into a more intimate and Heartfelt knowledge of Him. Jesus Christ is Literally the most important person in his life. He allows the Christ to be Lord of his life not simply by agreeing with all the intellectual doctrines about Him but by turning His life over to Jesus. 150

In doing so, he realizes that Jesus wants him not only when be is strong, on top, unafraid, invulnerable to Satan, and in control of every situation. This is the attitude of the thirty-percenters and the sixty-percenters-they have to be perfect or at least very good before they believe Jesus will accept them... The faith-filled Christan is constantly turning to Jesus for forgiveness. 150

The urgency of the moment demands commitment-decision. Drop everything and run for Christ. 150

What does the loss of reputation, popularity, status, life itself mean in comparison with the gain of Christ Jesus? The greatest moment in history has come and is rushing forward toward its conclusion. Open up1 This is not an Avon salesperson at the door. It is the Son of God. His invitation is to be treated with unconditional seriousness. 151

What distinguishes the Christians whose faith is deep, burning, powerful, and luminous is just this seriousness. Seriousness is not the opposite of joy but of superficiality. 151

[J. Alfred · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you've read anything by Brennan Manning, I think you've read it all. The guy only seems to have one message and one tone, but that message is drastically important and that tone is important for shaking us up to listen to the message. (Message: God loves people and expresses that in Jesus. Tone: Earnest.)
I have occasionally been delivered books via Amazon that have every sentence in the book underlined (minus parentheticals and prepositional phrases, it must be a weird grammar thing), and that's the way I feel like I could read Manning. Every paragraph is worth thought and discussion, even though it's all saying the same thing. I give you a representative sample:

In canonizing the poor in spirit, Jesus reverses all past ideas of human greatness and offers a totally new idea of human vocation. Jesus said in effect: Like a little child consider yourself to be of little account. Blessed are you if you love to be unknown and regarded as nothing: all things equal, to prefer contempt to honor, to prefer ridicule to praise, to prefer humiliation to glory.

[Liz Bahati · Rating 4 out of 5]

I‘ve read this book for my devotions during the past few weeks, and the way it’s changed my thinking about what it means to be a Christian is profound. I’m beginning to realize just what it means to actually be a Christian, not according to the world’s eyes or conventions, but through Manning’s insights, great quotes, and, of course, lots of Scripture. This book is one I would recommend people read slowly and let soak in. I would often pause my reading to look up a verse and read it in context, which helped me to see the bigger picture and appreciate what Manning was getting at.

So what’s this book about? Jesus loves us so much and there’s nothing we can do in return but accept it.

[Tina DePalma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found myself having trouble deciding on 3 or 4 stars to rate this book. I decided on the 4 stars because after reading this book it left me with much to think on and pray on. Manning's love for Christ and desire to see Christ in everything seemed so genuine and inspiring. There were times I felt like putting the book down because it was hard to push past the ideas in which we disagree. in the end, I forged ahead because of his devotion to Jesus and his desire for his readers to experience the relentless tenderness of Jesus.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I want to note that I do not agree with everything he writes, however I found this to be a thought-provoking book and I got quite a lot out of it. I always like when there are real stories laced in with the teaching, and there was plenty of that in this book. I don’t think I’ll read it again, but it was definitely better worth my time. The last thing I’ll say is that there is one statement that he said a couple times that I found very meaningful, and it reads, “To know means to be transformed by what one knows.”

[Monty Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is re-read number 3 for me of this book by Brennan. Having known Brennan, I can hear his voice whenever I re-read any of his books. This book is a soul-stirring reminder of the fierce, compassionate love of Christ. With his signature vulnerability and poetic prose, Manning invites readers to lay down shame and encounter Jesus not as a distant figure, but as a tender friend who meets us in our deepest need. Re-reading this book feels like coming home, it speaks to the heart, again and again, with grace that won’t let go.

[Katie · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was really hard to continue reading. I understood the point of it - to know the heart of Jesus. It just felt choppy and all over the place, to the point that I wasn’t even getting anything out of it because I just wanted to be done reading it. The structure did not make sense, and it never seemed as if the chapters were really talking about what they were titled. I know the Lord can and has used this book for people’s hearts - it just was not one of my favorite things to read.

[Jacqui Eames · Rating 5 out of 5]

Powerful yet gentle

I would give this book 10 stars if it was possible.
If you don't know Jesus, this book will help you discover how loved you are by Him.
If you have known Jesus a long time, but have become weary or caught up in the "doing" of being a Christian and forgotten that you are loved by God and can rest in His love, this book is definitely a reminder and recentering.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

The important changes of heart this book helped make in me:
• knowing with my heart that I can and should have unrelenting confidence in myself through Jesus, and in Jesus and His love for my life
• Jesus’ love and power is something I can’t fully comprehend but still something I should use my lifetime to get more familiar with

[Chris Osmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This first half of this book is one of the best books that I have read on the love of God expressed through Jesus. It does perhaps go on a bit too long and some of the chapters do seem to have an obscure story/connection at the beginning. That being said, this book is rich in articulating the profound compassion, love, and pursuit of Jesus.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book took me a very long time to read despite it's short length simply because every chapter is jam packed with nuggets of truth, stories, insights. Over and over again I found myself underlining and stopping as Manning had such a brilliant insight. This book is well worth returning to slowly rereading again and again.

[Daniel Harding · Rating 5 out of 5]

Manning invites you into a place. Where your mind sees and looks for Jesus. The Jesus of compassion. The Jesus of mercy. It is hard to describe this book as a coffee other than to say that you don’t put it down. Not because it’s the best coffee you’ve ever had or that it is in the best setting you’ve ever had but because it feels so comfortable. It is so welcoming.

[Boe Renslow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Important read

This book relieved me from the pressure to earn Gods love. It settled my anxiety of not doing enough while simultaneously spurning me to do more for God (but this time in a much healthier and biblical way).

[James Passaro · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautifully tender book and worth reading twice. The beginning and the end chapters spoke to me most. Is designed to be a book for a devotional and bible study and I imagine talking through it in a small group setting would be most helpful.

[Lydia Bryant · Rating 4 out of 5]

Something about the writing of the Franciscans just instantly ushers me into deeper awareness of the presence of God. Absolutely loved this meditative, challenging, brutally honest, prayerful little book.

[Brian Eichelberger · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful insight into the amazing love of God thru Christ

It really makes you think, and realize that Jesus loves you as you are, and not as you should be! It is a very hopeful book.