Highly Favored

 Hello everyone.

The story in Luke now shifts from the temple to a small town in Galilee. Gabriel now appears to a young woman, who is pledged to be married to a descendant of David, named Jospeh.  Her name is Mary and Luke specifically makes the point that she was παρθένον (parthenon) - a virgin.  He doesn't mention Isaiah 7:14 specifically here, but certainly some who read this must have made the connection.  Isa. 7:14 says, "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will concieve and give birth to a son." 

Anyway, Garbriel appears to Mary and says to her, "Χαῖρε, κεχαριτωμένη ὁ Κύριος μετὰ σοῦ." (Kaire, kekaritomenay ho Kypios meta sou.) "Greetings, you who are highly favored.  The Lord is with you." It is an interesting greeting, coming from an angel, and the Bible that Mary was perplexed as to what exactly it meant. I want to focus in Gabriel's second word, κεχαριτωμένη. It is a participle of the word χαριτόω (Karito-ō) which means, according to the Greek-English Lexicon of New Testament Words, 'to cause to be the recipient of a benefit, bestow favor on , favor highly, bless,' but the root word of all of this is χἁρις (Karis), the word we usually translate as 'grace.'  So this participle κεχαριτωμένη, it often translated as 'you who are highly favored.' We can see that Mary carried God's favor.  That is followed by the rest Gabriel's greeting, "The Lord is with you."  

So why Mary?  Why is Mary so highly favored?  There are two things in Mary's response that may help us understand why she was so favored. Mary asks a question of Gabriel after he informs that she is going to have a child.  She asks how it is possible for her to have a child since she is a virgin.  So, like Zechariah, Mary wonders how this could be possible since she had never been intimate with a man. Ἄνδρα οὐ γινώσκω (andra ou ginosko) are words she uses. Which basically translated to ‘I don’t know a man.’ The word Γινώσκω generally means ‘know’, but it can also mean to have sex with or to have a marital relationship with.  So Mary understands how this works and wonders she could have a child without ever having sex with a man. In my translation, I went with “I have never been intimate with a man.’ 

Well, why was Mary not punished, like Zechariah? Bock says that she was not punished because she was not asking for a sign.  That is possible.  It seems she is asking for an explanation, rather than a sign.  Zechariah wants to know how he can be certain that what he is being told is true.  Mary doesn’t seem to be asking that.  Never-the-less. Mary, without asking for a sign is given one: her relative, Elizabeth, who was old beyond child-bearing years, was now in the sixth month of her pregnancy. 

Then, Mary gets her answer. The Holy Spirit would come upon her and Δύναμις Ὑψίστου ἐπισκιάσει. (Dynamis Hypsistou episkiasei) Gabriel's explanation was that the power of the Most High would overshadow her. God’s creative power was going to come and create life within her, as His creative power had created life from nothing in the beginning.  

In verse 36, Gabriel gives Mary the sign of Elizabeth’s pregnancy and in verse 37 tells her that nothing is impossible with God.  He is now referencing two miraculous pregnancies, one to a woman beyond normal child-bearing years, something that is highly improbable, and one to a woman who has never had sex with a man, something that is not possible, except that the impossible becomes possible with God. She responds, "I am the Lord's servant. May it happen to me according to what you have said." Gabriel has just told her that she knows is impossible, but she buys into it.  She believes it. 

Wouldn't it be great if we all had that  κεχαριτωμένη (highly favored) status. Well, God hasn't decreased in power, and still can perform the impossible, although it can be challenging to believe it sometimes. I think that one of the reasons that Mary is so highly favored by God is her quick acceptance of the idea that God could and would do something inspite of the fact that it is impossible.  I will share the second reason that I think led to Mary's favored status in my next.

Tom