[1] In The Lord, Guardini wishes to present a correct understanding of Jesus by writing about his life and person, with all the limitations which the subject necessarily imposes.

So Guardini ponders such words as "And Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and grace before God and men" (Luke 2:52), and the passage in the Epistle to the Galatians which describes him as one "in the fullness of time," ripening to maturity deeply conscious of the history about him.

[4] Guardini's book typifies modern exegetical criticism, approaching Jesus Christ through the Gospels, placing his life in the context of history and showing how his teachings are related to the whole body of church doctrine and practice.

Considered a masterpiece by Catholic scholars,[5] The Lord has remained in print for decades[6] and, according to Henry Regnery, was "one of the most successful books I have ever published.

[8] In an introduction to a 21st-century edition of Guardini's book, Pope Benedict XVI wrote: "The Lord has not grown old, precisely because it still leads us to that which is essential, to that which is truly real, Jesus Christ Himself.