I have a friend called Ray or Sam; I was introduced to him by his wife, who called across the room, “Sam, come and meet Guy”, and when he came over, she said “Guy this is Ray”.
For some time I was confused, most of his friends called him Ray, but others Sam. Eventually I sought an explanation from him – His name is Raymond Samuel, but his dad’s name was Ray, so those who knew his dad call him Sam, the rest called him Ray.
Paul was born in what is modern day Turkey, a Greek speaking Roman citizen, but also Jewish, he was steeped in two cultures and possibly used his Hebrew name Saul (meaning prayed for) in Jewish company and Paul (a Greek name meaning little) in Greek speaking circles, and later adopted this as an effacing Christian name.
“Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Ephesians 1:2 [NIV]
In his Greek culture Paul would use the greeting ‘Hail’, meaning something like ‘Joy be with you’.
The classic Hebrew greeting he would use with his Jewish friends was Shalom, ‘Peace be with you’.
In his letters Paul coined a new phrase “Grace and peace”. Grace is Charis (χάρις) which has the same root as ‘Hail’,(Chaire, χαῖρε), echoing his Greek cultural greeting, but being saturated with the meaning of God’s action in restoring mankind’s relationship through Christ. Peace, Shalom, in a Jewish culture is more than a glib greeting, it carries with it the sense of a prayer that all hostilities and barriers would be removed; that there would be wholeness for the individual and society, that peace is restored in relationships. So when Paul greets the church with “grace and peace to you”, he is saying may you receive all the riches of God’s love, of a renewed relationship with God through Christ, that you would have wholeness as an individual and with the society in which you live. He prays that you would have restored relationships with God and with each other.
My prayer today is that Grace and Peace will be with you.
Guy Mowbray
No comments:
Post a Comment