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.
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!’”
- BSB 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.’”
- 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 be he that cometh in the name of the LORD: we have blessed you out of the house of the LORD.
- Matt 21:9And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.
- Rom 11:25For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
- Luke 10:22–23All things are delivered to me of my Father: and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him.
- Luke 2:26–30And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.
- John 8:56Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.
- John 8:24I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.
- Luke 17:22And he said unto the disciples, The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it.
- Hos 3:4For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim:
- John 8:21Then said Jesus again unto them, I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins: whither I go, ye cannot come.
- Zech 12:10And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
- Isa 40:9–11O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!
- John 14:19Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.
- John 14:9Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?
- 2 Cor 3:14–18But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ.
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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
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