Grace and Gratitude
Rev. Dr. Andrew M.T. Dibb
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. (Revelation 22:21)
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Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee
named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the
house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said
to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among
women!” (Luke 1:26-28)
he angel’s words to Mary have echoed down the centuries, repeated
annually in the Christmas story: “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord
is with you.” As the woman chosen to bear the Lord, Mary is indeed favored
above all women. She carried the Lord in her womb, bore Him in a stable,
watched Him grow in “wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.”
(Luke 2:52) While there are any number of aspects of the annunciation we
could consider, this article looks specifically at the greeting: “Rejoice, highly
favored one, the Lord is with you,” with emphasis on the word “favored.”
We often use words without always clearly defining them, and when we
read a translation of the Word it is easy to forget that we are taking a step away
from the original word, and sometimes the nuances of meaning in the original
language get lost in the translation. The word “favor” is no exception.
“Favor” is used many times in the Old and New Testaments, but does
the word translated as “favor” in the Old Testament mean exactly the same
as the word translated as “favor” in the New? When the word appears in the
Heavenly Doctrines, it is a translation of the Latin, which had differences from
the Hebrew and Greek.
Behind the English word “favor” lies another word that is often used
interchangeably with it: “grace.” In the original languages the Hebrew or Greek
can be translated as either. “Grace” is a word worth reflecting on even though
we don’t use it much, except in blessings. In the Roman Catholic translation
of the annunciation Gabriel says: “Hail Mary, full of grace.” This becomes the
opening phrase for the Rosary. But “grace” is used in other places as well, as in
the frequently recited blessing, “May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with
you all.” That phrase closes the book of Revelation, and so is the final statement
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