In the panorama of earth-shaking events in Revelation, there are several moments that shine out amid all the rest. One of these moments is when Heaven is opened and our Lord and Savior is revealed in battle-ready glory (Rev. 19:11-16).

See Him: the rider on a white horse. He whose eyes are like fire and from whose mouth comes a sharp sword. He who wears many diadems and a robe dipped in His own blood. He who is called Faithful and True, The Word of God, and King of kings and Lord of lords. Yet, mentioned so quickly it might be missed, there is another description of Him given: He has a name that no one knows but Himself (Rev. 19:12).

Throughout Scripture, there are at least sixty different names given to identify and describe Jesus Christ. These names communicate beautiful truths about Christ’s character and attributes. And while sixty unique names go a long way in communicating all that Jesus is, none of them go all the way. They can’t. Each gives only a glance into all that He is. Even with all sixty names collected together they fail to show us all that He is. Yet here, as if to fill the gap, is a name only for Jesus to know. A name that—surprisingly—still communicates even more of His identity to us.

This name is not revealed and never will be. Why? Simple. Because it is God’s will for Jesus to have a name that only He knows. But, along with that, it may also be that Jesus is the only one able to know this name. For Jesus to have a name that no one knows but Himself communicates to us that He is completely other. It reminds us that the infinite depth of His nature is merely skimmed by sixty names. Even after spending an eternity in His presence, we will be no nearer to reaching His end or knowing Him fully “than when we first begun.” But that will not stop us from joining the call C.S. Lewis gives in The Last Battle, “Come further up, come further in!” We will sing this out eternally!

Lest we think we have exhausted the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, we are reminded that this will never be true. This unknown name causes us to pause and consider that perhaps it is too full, too boundless, and too vast for our finite minds to ever grasp. It is beyond us just as its owner is. He is too much for us. We will forever be children playing in the shallows with our Father as He invites us to take His hand and go deeper still. 

1) Just as Christ has a name that no one else knows, He will give each of His redeemed image-bearers a name that no one else knows. He says, “To the one who conquers I will give … a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it” (Rev. 2:17). Only He can give us each a unique name. Only He truly knows our frame (Ps. 103:14). He who knows us intimately and fully will give each of us a name that only we know—a name that perfectly and completely communicates all that He has made us to be in Him.