Thanks for your post. I too have a background in Greek. Just a few days ago this was discussed and here is part of the response I posted. Sorry to recycle. It is not from lack of respect for you. It gets old posting the same things over and over from scratch...and it's been a long day.
Mary was highly “favored” (Gr. kecharitomene) because God chose to bestow upon her a special grace (“favor,” Gr. charis). Eph. 1:6, the only other New Testament occurrence of kecharitomene).Here is Eph. 1:6 compare:
“to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.”
Please note that God chose to freely bestow this grace upon us in Christ. Not based on any merit - exacly as in the case of Mary - but because He is gracious.
Both instances in the Scripture of the word kecharitomene are used in an identical way. Grace is bestowed because of God’s free choice.
Mary was highly blessed to receive His gracious choice of her as the one to bear Messiah. All believers are highly blessed to receive His gracious eternal life in Christ.
In both cases, God decreed and accomplished His sovereign grace in eternity past. To go directly to your claim. He chose these actions and they were accomplished in eternity past.
The angel’s address to Mary means simply, Hail, thou that art the especially chosen and favoured of the Most High, to attain the honour every Jewish woman has wanted to have.
No where does the Scripture teach she was immaculate.
No Apostle refers to her this way.
No passage affirms this of Mary.
No support for this idea in any contemporaneous:
Christian literatureNothing in before 100 ad supports this idea. It comes into the Church later - much later.
Christian artworks
Secular writings
Secular artworks
best to you
Sure she was highly favored.
Only ONE woman in all of the history of the world would be the one to carry the Messiah.
And Mary got the job. What an honor!
That's what makes her favored, not anything else.
Hail, full of grace (kecharitomene), the Lord is with you!" [Luke 1:28, RSVCE]
The Greek word, kecharitomene, is the perfect passive participle of the Greek verb, charitoo, meaning to grace or favor. The perfect tense denotes completion or fullness. It can be translated as "completely graced" or "fully favored." St. Jerome in the 4th century translated it into Latin as, gratia plena, or "full of grace." Even some Protestant Bibles render it as "highly favored one" (NIV & KJV). In this verse Gabriel does not address her as "Hail, Mary" but as "Hail, full of grace." Gabriel uses this participle as a name or title for Mary. In Acts 6:8, St. Stephen is said to be "full of grace" according to the RSV, but this phrase is used as a description and not as a title. Mary is named "Full-of-Grace", which includes sanctifying grace. Grace is opposed to sin (Rom. 5:21). This verse may not prove the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, but it would be an odd greeting otherwise. Elsewhere in the Bible, Elizabeth under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit declares to Mary:
"Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb!" [Luke 1:42, RSV]
In this poetic parallel, Mary's blessing from God is compared to the blessing that rests on her Son - the fruit of her womb. Jesus was blessed in His humanity by being sinless (Hebrews 4:15) even while in her womb. Mary was blessed by God as the mother of His Son and in her freedom from sin.
Nothing in before 100 ad supports this idea. It comes into the Church later - much later.
The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception developed slowly through the centuries. Some divinely revealed truths take time for us to fully understand. Its development can be traced back to God's words to the serpent:
"I will put enmity between you (serpent) and the woman and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel."[Genesis 3:15, RSV]
This verse is seen as the promise of the Redeemer. "He" and "her seed" refer to Christ. "Woman" and "her" can refer to Eve, but they apply better to Mary (John 19:26). Luke's Annunciation scene (Luke 1:26-38,42) appears to contrast the Eve-serpent scene (Gen. 3:1-7): Mary vs. Eve, Gabriel vs. Satan (Rev. 12:9) as serpent, Fruit of the womb vs. fruit of the tree. In Romans 5:14 and 1 Cor. 15:44-49, St. Paul sees Jesus Christ as the New Adam. In like fashion, St. Justin Martyr in 155 A.D. saw Mary as the New Eve: "For Eve, who was a virgin and undefiled, having conceived the word of the serpent, brought forth disobedience and death. But the Virgin Mary received faith and joy... And by her has He (Jesus) been born." [Dialogue with Trypho 100] St. Irenaeus in 190 A.D. wrote: "Eve was...the cause of death...; so also did Mary...become the cause of salvation, both to herself and the whole human race...The knot of Eve's disobedience was loosed by the obedience of Mary. For what the virgin Eve had bound fast through unbelief, this did the virgin Mary set free through faith." [Against Heresies III 22:4]
No where does the Scripture teach she was immaculate.
The absence of such a statement does not contradict its reality, much like sola scriptura, as has already been pointed out.