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!’ ”
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.
- 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 !’ ”
- 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 Yahweh’s name! We have blessed you out of Yahweh’s house.
- Matt 21:9The multitudes who went in front of him, and those who followed, kept shouting, “Hosanna to the son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”
- Rom 11:25For I don’t desire you to be ignorant, brothers, of this mystery, so that you won’t be wise in your own conceits, that a partial hardening has happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in,
- Luke 10:22–23Turning to the disciples, he said, “All things have been delivered to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is, except the Father, and who the Father is, except the Son, and he to whomever the Son desires to reveal him.”
- Luke 2:26–30It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.
- John 8:56Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day. He saw it, and was glad.”
- John 8:24I said therefore to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am he, you will die in your sins.”
- Luke 17:22He said to the disciples, “The days will come, when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it.
- Hos 3:4For the children of Israel shall live many days without king, and without prince, and without sacrifice, and without sacred stone, and without ephod or idols.
- John 8:21Jesus said therefore again to them, “I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sins. Where I go, you can’t come.”
- Zech 12:10I will pour on David’s house, and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication; and they will look to me whom they have pierced; and they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for his only son, and will grieve bitterly for him, as one grieves for his firstborn.
- Isa 40:9–11You who tell good news to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who tell good news to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with strength. Lift it up. Don’t be afraid. Say to the cities of Judah, “Behold, your God!”
- John 14:19Yet a little while, and the world will see me no more; but you will see me. Because I live, you will live also.
- John 14:9Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you such a long time, and do you not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father. How do you say, ‘Show us the Father?’
- 2 Cor 3:14–18But their minds were hardened, for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains, because in Christ it passes away.
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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.