What Does It Mean to Say
“Full of Grace”. Huldrych
Zwingli: After the angel came inside to her, he greeted her with the following
words: “God greets you, you who are full of grace! The Lord is with you. You
are highly praised among women.” Here you should notice that the phrase “full
of grace” is the translation of the Greek word kecharitōmenē, which means “beloved” or “filled with grace” or
“favored one.” We learn from this that the phrase “full of grace” should not be
understood in the sense that she was full of grace from herself but that all the
grace with which she was richly filled came from God. For to be “full of grace”
means nothing else than to be the most beloved of God, to be made worthy and to
be chosen from among all other women. For grace is the good will of God alone.
And if I say, “God gave much grace to someone,” all that means is, “God has
granted him much and given him many blessings.” Although we usually say,
“Blessed are you among women,” to avoid confusion over the meaning of the word blessed, I have said, “You are highly
praised among women,” for the Greek word eulogēmenē
means “highly praised” more than “blessed.” However, I am not going to discard
the word blessed, but we need to
understand “blessed are you” in the sense of “highly praised are you.” And this
is the end of the angelic greeting. Sermon on Mary, the Pure Mother of God.
(Luke: New Testament,
ed. Beth Kreitzer et al. [Reformation Commentary on Scripture 3; Downers Grove,
Ill.: IVP Academic, 2015], 15-16)
