Winning Others Over?

Many see the Word of God. . .few observe!

Jesus grew as a child and teenager in a balanced manner. He grew mentally, physically, socially and spiritually during those years. Consider another key word in this classic scripture.

Luke 2:52 (NIV) 52 And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.

Take a closer look at the favor gained by this child and young man. He was not given special approval. He earned his relationship with qualities that could win others over. 

Here is an entry from A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament:

χάρις, ιτος, ἡ (Hom.+) acc. quite predom. χάριν, but χάριτα Ac 24:27; 25:9 v.l.; Jd 4 and pl. χάριτας Ac 24:27 v.l.; 1 Cl 23:1 (Eur., Hel. 1378; Hdt. 6, 41; X., Hell. 3, 5, 16; ins, pap; Zech 4:7; 6:14; EpArist 272, pl. 230.—B-D-F §47, 3; W-S. §9, 7; Mayser 271f; Thackeray 150; Helbing 40f; Mlt-H. 132.—It seems that χάρις is not always clearly differentiated in mng. fr. χαρά; Apollodorus [II b.c.]: 244 Fgm. 90 Jac. says in the second book περὶ θεῶν: κληθῆναι δὲ αὐτὰς ἀπὸ μὲν τ. χαρᾶς Χάριτας· καὶ γὰρ πολλάκις … οἱ ποιηταὶ τ. χάριν χαρὰν καλοῦσιν ‘the [deities] Charites are so called from χαρά [joy], for poets freq. equate χάρις with χαρά’. Cp. the wordplay AcPl Ha 8, 7 χαρᾶς καὶ χάριτος the house was filled with gaiety and gratitude.).

① a winning quality or attractiveness that invites a favorable reaction, graciousness, attractiveness, charm, winsomeness (Hom.+; Jos., Ant. 2, 231) of human form and appearance παῖς λίαν εὐειδής ἐν χάριτι an exceptionally fine-looking and winsome youth AcPl Ha 3, 13. Of speech (Demosth. 51, 9; Ps.-Demetr. [I a.d.], Eloc. §127; 133; 135 al.; Eccl 10:12; Sir 21:16; Jos., Ant. 18, 208) οἱ λόγοι τῆς χάριτος (gen. of quality) the gracious words Lk 4:22. ὁ λόγος ὑμῶν πάντοτε ἐν χάριτι let your conversation always be winsome Col 4:6 (cp. Plut., Mor. 514f; s. also HAlmqvist, Plut. u. das NT ’46, 121f; Epict. 3, 22, 90). τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ χάριτος ἐπληροῦτο MPol 12:1 can also be placed here in case χάρις means nothing more than graciousness (s. 4 below); prob. also GJs 7:3 (s. 3b).[1]

Do others see you as gracious, attractive, charming and winsome? Do you get permission from others to have a relationship? Or do you demand respect without giving respective attention to them? 

God the father stated at the baptism of Jesus that this is my son in whom I am well pleased. Pleased with what? No formal ministry had transpired yet! I think another one of those items he was pleased with was his attractiveness.

Cathy and Danny Sartin

Deeper Still Missions

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Hom Hom , VIII b.c.—List 5
acc. acc. = accusative
predom. predom. = predominant(ly)
v.l. v.l. = varia lectio (variant reading)
pl. pl. = plural
v.l. v.l. = varia lectio (variant reading)
1 Cl 1 Cl = 1 Clement—List 1
Eur Eur , V b.c.—List 5
Hdt. Hdt. = Herodotus, V b.c.—List 5
X. X. = Xenophon, V–IV b.c.—List 5
ins Ins, ins = Inscription, Inschrift, inscription(s). Without a period, esp. in lists, as at the beginning of entries; the capitalized form is used in titles. In conjunction with literary works this abbr. refers to the title or description of contents.
pap pap = papyrus, -yri
EpArist EpArist = Epistle of Aristeas, II b.c.—List 5
pl. pl. = plural
B-D-F B-D-F = FBlass, ADebrunner, RFunk, A Greek Grammar of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature—List 6
W-S. W-S. = GWiner, Grammatik des neutestamentlichen Sprachidioms, ed. PSchmiedel—List 6
Mayser Mayser = EM., Grammatik der griechischen Papyri aus der Ptolemäerzeit—Lists 4, 6
Thackeray Thackeray = HT., A Grammar of the OT in Greek according to the Septuagint—List 6
Helbing Helbing = RH.—List 6
Mlt-H. Mlt-H. = JMoulton/WHoward, A Grammar of NT Greek II: Accidence and Word-formation—List 6
mng. mng. = meaning(s)
fr. fr. = from
Fgm. Fgm. = fragment, fragmentary
Jac. Jac. = Die Fragmente der griechischen Historiker, ed. FJacoby—Lists 5, 6
freq. freq. = frequent(ly)
AcPl Ha AcPl Ha = Acts of Paul, PHamb—List 1
Hom Hom , VIII b.c.—List 5
Jos. Jos. = Josephus. This abbr. used when follow by title; I a.d.—Lists 5
AcPl Ha AcPl Ha = Acts of Paul, PHamb—List 1
Demosth Demosth , IV b.c.—List 5
Ps. Ps. = pseudo, pseudonymous
Demetr Demetr , III b.c.—List 5
al. al. =alibi (elsewhere), aliter (otherwise), alii (others)
Jos. Jos. = Josephus. This abbr. used when follow by title; I a.d.—Lists 5
gen. gen. = genitive
cp. cp. = compare, freq. in ref. to citation fr. ancient texts
Plut Plut , I–II a.d.—List 5
Plut Plut , I–II a.d.—List 5
NT NT = New Testament
Epict Epict , various works, I–II a.d.—List 5
MPol MPol = Martyrdom of Polycarp; after II a.d.—List 1
prob. prob. = probable, probably
GJs GJs = Gospel of James (Protevangelium Jacobi), II a.d.—List 1
[1] Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., & Bauer, W. (2000). A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.