Known in Heaven

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. — John 10:27

 Mary stood by the entrance to the empty tomb and wept in misery that her Lord had died. She longed for “the touch of the vanished hand,” as Tennyson lyrically described death's cold finality, “the sound of the voice that was still.”

Then Jesus appeared. In her grief, Mary's eyes deceived her, for she thought He was the gardener. But when He called her name, she knew Him immediately. She cried, “Rabboni!” which means Teacher (John 20:16).

People ask me if we'll know one another in heaven. I believe that we will know and be known there. When Jesus received His glorified body, His followers recognized Him (John 20:19-20). And someday we too will have a glorified body (1 Cor. 15:42-49; 1 John 3:2).

“Rejoice,” said Jesus to His disciples, “because your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20). Someday we'll hear again the voices of loved ones whose names are written in heaven — voices now still. We will hear the father who spoke our name with rough affection, the mother who called us in from play.

There’s one voice, however, that I long to hear above all others — my Lord Jesus, calling my name: “David.” And, like Mary, I will know Him at once. My Savior! — David Roper

I will meet thee again in that deathless land,

Whenever thy foot shall imprint the strand;

And the loveliest things that have here been mine

Shall there in eternal beauty shine. — MacDonald

READ: John 20:11-18

Goodbyes are the law of earth —

reunions are the law of heaven.

 The Bible in one year:

• Psalms 29-30

• Acts 23:1-15