Have you ever wondered about the angel's strange greeting to the Virgin Mary? Why would God's own messenger be saying "Hail" to a young girl? Why is she called "full of grace" and not "Mary, full of grace"? Is this possibly a royal title? The answer lies in the other uses of "Hail" in the New Testament.









This is an absolutely critical point in Scripture. First off, if Mary had said "No" to God, it would have changed everything. There is so much significance packed into this short verse. The Angel Gabriel says to Mary, "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!" Why does the angel say, "Hail"? Is the Virgin Mary a taxi cab?

And why does the angel say "full of grace" instead of Mary's name?





I was just immersed in a Twitter battle about the meaning of this verse with some of John MacArthur 's hyper-Calvinist disciples. Check it out:





This is a trap, of course. No where in Scripture will you find two Galileans passing each other on the street and saying, "Hail, buddy!"





If you look it up, the word "hail" is actually used only six times in the Gospels. It's used as a greeting (not a weather phenomenon), but what sort of greeting? As you will see, each time, "hail" is used as a very uncommon sort of greeting.





(Not sure why he used "norepinephrine" there. It's a pretty ironic auto-correct, though.)





Three of the six times that "hail" is used in the Gospel (Mt 27:29; Mk 15:18; Jn 19:3) it is used as follows:





title, King of the Jews. In the exact same manner, Mary is addressed by the angel as "Hail, Full of Grace!" It is a greeting for royalty and "Full of Grace" (Hb. kecharitomene) is Mary's royal title. BOOM! Isn't that amazing? "Hail" is used, albeit mockingly, to revere and address the "King of the Jews." "Hail" is also followed, not by Jesus' name, but by his, King of the Jews. In the exact same manner, Mary is addressed by the angel as "Hail, Full of Grace!" It is a greeting for royalty and "Full of Grace" (Hb.) is Mary's royal title.





royal authority. Also, at Matthew 26:49 , Judas greets Jesus with "Hail, Master!" Hail is always used to denote authority and, in particular,authority.





The John MacArthur boys brought to my attention the sixth time the word "hail" is used in Scripture:

Mary Magdalene and "the other Mary" ( either Mary, wife of Clopas or Mary, wife of Alphaeus ), have found the tomb of Jesus empty. Both Marys had been at the Cross with Mary, the mother of Jesus, and now they have come to Jesus' tomb. They encounter the angel, who announces the Resurrection. After departing from the angel, a

not. Mathew 28:9 , Jesus meets the women and says, "Hail!" Immediately, they turn and respond, "Howdy, J-sizzle!" ... NO! They do









Immediately, the women "took hold of his feet and worshiped him."





blinding! Moses even wore a veil after speaking with God, because his shining face was frightening to the Israelites ( If Jesus had just said "hello, howdy" to the women, why do they throw themselves at his feet and worship him? Because, when Jesus said "Hail!", he wasn't greeting them. He was commanding them to worship him. His resurrected body was wreathed with the glory of God, not unlike at the Transfiguration. It was only fitting that they bow before the revealed power and glory of God. Such an apotheosis could be! Moses even wore a veil after speaking with God, because his shining face was frightening to the Israelites ( Exodus 34:29-35 ) - just imagine what Jesus' face must have looked like!





Jesus, therefore, uses "Hail!" as a command to bow down and worship. This is an interesting scene with the women bowing down and "hailing" the risen King of Jews. It is perfectly symmetrical with the guards bowing down and mock-hailing Jesus prior to the Crucifixion.



