students of jesus

To everyone who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give a white stone, and on the white stone is written a new name that no one knows except the one who receives it. ~ Revelation 2:17

Today I’m intrigued with a smooth white stone, engraved with a name known only to God--and the path to that stone.

The setting for this single verse is Jesus, resurrected and glorious, walking among lampstands, dictating letters to believers huddled together against the attacks of a dying world. In every single case (there are seven of them) Jesus suggests “overcoming” is a practical, attainable hope. He himself is our example of overcoming—not by winning the next battle or election, but by laying down his life, even for those who hate him. We discover the overcoming life only when the Father raises him again to a new kind of life.

The path to the white stone not only involves overcoming but also a secret, supernatural food, the hidden manna, given from the Lord’s own hand. I have no firm idea what this means: perhaps the sustaining life that comes from abiding with Jesus day-by-day, or perhaps yet another miracle wrapped in the Eucharist. I know only that it is from him, and I hope to have the good sense to eat the bread he offers. It is a Kingdom meal, served to those who sit at the banqueting table made possible by his life, death, and resurrection: no worldly connections will gain a seat at this table, where the poor, the sick, the lame, and sinner find an engraved place setting.

And finally: there, among the overcomers and the feast of the secret bread, Jesus presents a personal gift. Let the rich and famous have their swag bags. The swag of God is a small white stone, engraved with a name not even you yourself knew, but when you see it for the first time you immediately know it to be your true name, the name only a loving Creator can bestow. All your life you had the feeling that whoever you were, it wasn't really you. Not fully you. Not even you knew you. The name you learned to spell with great block letters as a child, the name that followed you through adolescence and adulthood, the name you handed to others like a business card—it never fit. Not fully. But there was someone who knew who you really were. Someone who was calling you by that name, and the sound of his voice summoned you to a new identity.

Carl Jung said, “The world will ask you who you are, and if you do not know, the world will tell you.” He was only half right: while the world asks our name, Jesus reveals our name. While the world tries to twist our desires, Jesus serves the true food, the food that satisfies forever. Only in the overcoming do we discover our destiny, and we overcome not by our effort but by his example.

Only then will I know myself. Today, the only correct and satisfying answer is, "I'm his."