For I tell you that you will not see Me again until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.’”
Parallel translations
- WEB For I tell you, you will not see me from now on, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’”
- KJV For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
- NKJV for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord !’ ”
- NASB For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, ‘Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ”
- NLT For I tell you this, you will never see me again until you say, ‘Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
They will not see him again until they say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.' It points beyond judgment to a future acknowledgment of the Messiah.
Overview
Jesus quotes the welcome of Psalm 118, declaring that the city will not see him in blessing until they greet him with these words. Faithful Christians understand this in connection with his future return or a future turning to him. Even amid judgment, the words hold out hope that Christ will yet be received and confessed as the blessed One sent by God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Ps 118:26Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD. From the house of the LORD we bless you.
- Matt 21:9The crowds that went ahead of Him and those that followed were shouting: “Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Hosanna in the highest!”
- Rom 11:25I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you will not be conceited: A hardening in part has come to Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.
- Luke 10:22–23All things have been entrusted to Me by My Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.”
- Luke 2:26–30The Holy Spirit had revealed to him that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.
- John 8:56Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see My day. He saw it and was glad.”
- John 8:24That is why I told you that you would die in your sins. For unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”
- Luke 17:22Then He said to the disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it.
- Hos 3:4For the Israelites must live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, and without ephod or idol.
- John 8:21Again He said to them, “I am going away, and you will look for Me, but you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.”
- Zech 12:10Then I will pour out on the house of David and on the people of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and prayer, and they will look on Me, the One they have pierced. They will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for Him as one grieves for a firstborn son.
- Isa 40:9–11Go up on a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news. Raise your voice loudly, O Jerusalem, herald of good news. Lift it up, do not be afraid! Say to the cities of Judah, “Here is your God!”
- John 14:19In a little while the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you also will live.
- John 14:9Jesus replied, “Philip, I have been with you all this time, and still you do not know Me? Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
- 2 Cor 3:14–18But their minds were closed. For to this day the same veil remains at the reading of the old covenant. It has not been lifted, because only in Christ can it be removed.
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Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 23:39 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.