Will We Recognize Each Other in Heaven?

By Elizabeth Prata

I was speaking with a lady recently who seemed to think that the only person we will know in heaven will be Jesus. I thought about that for a while, then I did the usual thing: I consulted the scriptures. I came to the conclusion that no, we WILL know everyone in heaven. There will be no introductions, no name tags, no mnemonic devices to remember who is who. WE WILL KNOW.

Why do I think this? Well, let’s look at scripture and the biblical scenes which led me to this conclusion.

For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully, just as I also have been fully known. (1 Corinthians 13:12).

The verse less speaks to recognizing people than it does to our being freed from darkness and obscurity of knowledge; of God, of His ways, and wants. Matthew Henry says,

Now we can only discern things at a great distance, as through a telescope, and that involved in clouds and obscurity; but hereafter the things to be known will be near and obvious, open to our eyes; and our knowledge will be free from all obscurity and error. God is to be seen face to face; and we are to know him as we are known by him…We shall know how we are known, enter into all the mysteries of divine love and grace. Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible.

But … if we are freed from darkness and obscurity of the fuller knowledge of God and enter into the mysteries of the universe, and if we will see God ‘face to face’, then it stands to reason we will also know each other.

But more specifically, at the Mount of Transfiguration, Peter immediately recognized Moses and Elijah, even though both men had passed away long before Peter ever lived.

And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. Peter responded and said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If You want, I will make three tabernacles here: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” (Matthew 17:3-4).

Though some interpret the scene of the Rich Man and Lazarus as a parable, others take it as actual. Either way, the scene involved the unnamed Rich Man and the beggar at his gate named Lazarus. They died. The Rich Man went to Hades, Lazarus went to Abraham’s bosom AKA Paradise. The Rich Man looked across the great gulf that is fixed, where none may cross from one side to the other, and he recognized Abraham.

John MacArthur says of recognizing people in heaven,

In the Old Testament, when a person died, the biblical writers said he was “gathered to his people” (cf. Gen. 25:8; 35:29; 49:29; Num. 20:24; Judg. 2:10). In 2 Samuel 12, when David’s infant child died, David confidently said, “I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me” (v. 23). David evidently expected to see the child again–not just a nameless, faceless soul without an identity, but that very child.

It will be a glorious day when we finally see our Savior in person. It will be wonderful to be reunited with loved ones we knew on earth. It will also be fabulous to sit with Moses, Paul, Rahab, Abigail, Dorcas…and all the other believers who are in heaven waiting for the Day of full completion.