But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.
Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has given birth; then the rest of his brothers shall return to the people of Israel.
And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth.
And he shall be their peace.
- Micah 5:2-5a
The Procamation - Advent week 4
I’m a huge fan of etymology, the study of words and their origins. There’s something satisfying in discovering how our language was formed and changed over time. This is particularly helpful when we have words that are “obvious” but may contain some layers of meaning when exposed.
The language of “proclamation” runs throughout scripture as a method God uses to connect His message to His people. To “proclaim” is literally to “shout forth” – a strong vocal expression of the message. It should bring to mind the town crier, whose job was to shout forth the message to the village folk when anything newsworthy had happened.
This week’s reading sees the prophecy of the coming Messiah standing and “feeding” the flock – proclaiming the good news that God is on the move and bringing about His promises. It’s the sense we get from Luke when Jesus stands up in the synagogue and reads from Isaiah’s scroll: “The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Jesus’ work was, in part, to publicly shout forth God’s message of liberation and healing to the people that had been enslaved and broken. It was not just good news; it was GREAT news.
And it still is.
When that King was crucified, the shout was even louder. With his resurrection, it was deafening. Scripture promises us that someday, maybe far in the future and maybe sooner than we realize, every single being in the universe will hear that shout and be forced to reckon with what it really means. One day the shout will be acknowledged by everything: every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is the King.
The proclamations in scripture point us to the goodness of God in His plan to “make his dwelling among us.” From the beginning of Genesis to the end of Revelation, God’s clear plan is proclaimed: God longs to be with His people, and He does so in the person of His Son, Jesus, and through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit until the return of Christ and the redemption of all things.
And it is THAT Good News that Christians continue to proclaim, especially at Advent. We proclaim that God has not stopped working since the beginning, and that God will continue working until the end to accomplish what He has determined. One day, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess.
This we proclaim!
