In the blog post “Am I Radical” we considered how each of us might be more like a first responder to an emergency, where the emergency is the eternal status of a friend or acquaintance.  In the post  “Am I Following” we wonder how to respond as Jesus challenges us to GO on His behalf to a fallen world.  Going to our world, we read an interesting command found in Luke 9:60:

60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”

What comes after “go?”—“proclaim the kingdom of God.”  The more I thought about it, the more interested I became in the meaning of the command.  Most likely, we’ve all rushed over these words and thought “yeah yeah, proclaim the kingdom of God.  Got it.”

Let’s take a look at the command in more detail, as is fitting for such an important instruction.   As a church worship band might wrestle with chords, phrasing and timing for a new song, we must take time to learn something new.  God’s Word deserves nothing less.

“Proclaim.”  That brings to mind an immediate movie scene or two, don’t it?  “Hear ye, hear ye, … , “ as the town crier unrolls a parchment scroll and reads some order from the king.  What does the word really mean, though?  At first, I thought it might be from “pro” and “claim.”  You know, pro, like “for” and “claim” like “it’s mine.”  Let me tell you, I am NOT a linguist.  Not even close.  The simple view of the word from its Latin origin is found online:

proclaim c.1400, from L. proclamare  “cry or call out,” from pro-  “forth” + clamare  “to cry out” (see claim). Proclamation  “that which is proclaimed” is recorded from 1415.  Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010

I like it!  “Clamare” sounds a lot like our word “clamor” which is what worship band drums sound like sometimes.  Noisy.  Loud.  Energetic.  Attention-grabbing.

But of course, the online dictionary of the English language is not a perfect Biblical analytical tool.  Looking at the different translations of the same source text can give us an idea of the meaning of this important word.  Here are a few of the words synonymous with “proclaim:”  Publish, tell, preach, announce, give news of, and spread – all words trying to convey something that in Latin makes the most sense – “to cry out!”

Of course, we are to be noisy about “the kingdom of God.”  So we have to truly seek its meaning.  And, we have to recognize that Christ Jesus gave these words as if the man walking alongside Him would easily grasp the meaning.  It was not a long sermon!  Go, proclaim the Kingdom!  What did He mean?
It is interesting if you do a phrase search for “kingdom of God” using either the old-fashioned concordance or a modern online resource like http://www.biblegateway.org.  If you place quotes around the phrase, seeking an exact match, the first reference is…drum roll, please…in Matthew.  Many topics are found throughout the Bible.  This concept , the kingdom of God, appears to be solely in the New Testament.   We can read Luke 16:16 to be sure:

“The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing their way into it.”

Now, describing the kingdom of God is difficult.  Scholars do debate and discuss its essence.  Reading the verses about it just in the Gospel of Luke, we can see some of its many attributes:

It belongs to the poor [Luke 6:20]
It is a place of ranking [Luke 7:28]
It is good news [Luke 8:1]
It is near Luke [10:9]
It is like a strong tree [Luke 13:18-19]
It is like a tiny organism that can’t be stopped [Luke 13:20-21]
It is a place where the patriarchs and prophets exist [Luke 13:28]
It is a place of all peoples Luke [13:29]
It is a place of feasting Luke [14:15]
It is not something to be observed [Luke 17:20]
It is now [Luke 17:21]
It is a belonging [Luke 18:16]
It is received by childlike faith [Luke 18:16]
It is difficult for some to enter [Luke 18:24-25]
It is to come [Luke 22:18]
It is worth waiting for [Luke 23:51]

We could continue reading all the references and continue to be amazed!  I can only sit here and wonder “how am I going to proclaim all of this?”  I can’t even understand some of it!

I guess we can take heart in the way Christ spoke of the kingdom of God.  Did He offer all these descriptive words at once?  Did He try to cover the entire subject in one lecture?  Did He drop a few drachmas at the local Fedex Office store to make copies of His latest manuscript to hand out to the followers?

No, of course not.  Jesus spoke of the kingdom of God just as we should—ministering to those in need, as they needed.  He spoke simply.  He spoke clearly.  He spoke in ways that made sense to each person that asked a question.  Let us think deeply about the meaning of the kingdom of God, so that we do understand as much as we are able.  But, may we be ever more like Jesus as we “cry out” about His kingdom!

Am I proclaiming?