Jeremy,
Thanks for the question.
Translating the text to full of grace and
or highly favored one are both accurate, but dreadfully inadequate
translations of a Greek word layered with deep meaning.
The text original reads: kecharitomene. It means one who has
been perfected by grace.
The operative part of the word (for our purposes)
is the root word Karis (grace). The word grace in Greek also means favor;
additionally it is the root word for thanksgiving as in Eucharist.
So the Angel greets Mary by calling her the one who has been perfected by
grace and is highly favored of God. As he announces her pregnancy,
on a more subtle level, he is telling her she's going to literally have
the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Our Lord in her womb. All that
meaning and more is conveyed in the one Greek word kecharitomene.
When you or I read highly favored in the context of our society
it does not have the same impact as it would have to those reading Luke's
Gospel. We would treat the word favored or favorite, as though we were
talking about pistachio or rum raisin ice cream.
That is not the way the original readers or hearers of Luke's Gospel
would have understood this. They would have understood the full meaning of
the one word which takes a series of sentences to explain in English.
We see the English expression full of grace elsewhere in Scripture
as it relates to Christ Himself.
14 And the Word became
flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the
only begotten of the Father, full of grace and
truth. 15 John bore witness of Him and
cried out, saying, "This was He of whom I said, 'He who comes after
me is preferred before me, for He was before me.'" 16 And of His fullness we have all
received, and grace for grace.
John 1:14-16
That said, in the Greek, it is not the same phrase used in relationship to Mary.
With respect to Mary, (as we have described), the phrase is the superlative,
passive verb kecharitomene. It means having been perfected
by grace.
However in John 1:14 the Greek says Pleres Karitos which means replete with grace.
By implication, which is confirmed in verse 16, it also
means source of grace.
- So in Mary's case she is the object (or recipient) of grace
and thus becomes a conduit of grace.
- The Eternal Word, on the other hand, is
the eternal source of grace. In becoming man,
the Eternal Word becomes the conduit
(mediator) as well as the source of grace.
John
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