Prepare The Way
Now the full number
of those who believed
were of
one
heart and soul
On the first day of creation, God said,
“Let there be light”
(Genesis 1:3),
One Accord
The concept of being in one accord is expressed frequently in the Bible, with ten instances in the book of Acts. For example, “All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers” (Acts 1:14, ESV).
To be in
one accord communicates
being
one
in heart and mind.
More specifically,
the words in the original language convey
The Inner Unity
(oneness of heart and mind)
of a group of people engaged in a similar action.
As such, the expression is sometimes rendered
“with one mind,”
as in Romans 15:6:
“So that you may glorify the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ
with one mind and one voice” (CSB).
When a group of people acts single-mindedly, unanimously, in harmony, in unity, and without dissent, they are operating in one accord.
In the Bible, the phrase often occurs along with statements about the people, the place, or the activity in which the harmonious group is participating: “Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas.
They sent Judas called
Barsabbas, (5:17)
and Silas, leading men among the brothers,
with the following
letter: ‘
The brothers, both the apostles and the elders,
to the brothers who are of the Gentiles in
Antioch and Syria and Cilicia,
greetings.
Since we have heard that some persons have gone out from us and troubled you with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions, it has seemed good to us, having come to one accord,
to choose men and send them to you
with our beloved Barnabas and Paul’”
(Acts 15:22–25, ESV).
In the Old Testament, the phrase in one accord is always
used to describe
unanimous participation in a particular action.
In Joshua 9:2,
the pagan kings
“gathered themselves together to fight with
one accord against Joshua and Israel”
(LEB).
Speaking of the conversion of heathen nations, Zephaniah 3:9 says, “For at that time I will change the speech of the peoples to a pure speech, that all of them may call upon the name of the LORD and serve him with one accord” (ESV). Here, the phrase translated “with one accord” literally means “with one shoulder.” It likely comes from the practice of yoking oxen together for plowing. The NIV translates the idea with a similar English expression,
“shoulder to shoulder.”
In the New Testament, in one accord is used to emphasize the internal unanimity of a community. In Acts 12:20, that community is “the people of Tyre and Sidon” who are angry with Herod. In Acts 8:6, it describes the crowd of people who are listening to Philip’s teachings: “And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip, when they heard him and saw the signs that he did” (ESV). It illustrates how the community of Christian believers worshiped, prayed, and fellowshipped together
(Acts 1:14; 2:46; 4:24; 5:12; Romans 15:6).
Unity in the early church
is also expressed by the
sharing of material possessions: “
All was
Fulfilled in the Arc
among the
heartland
Now the full number
of those who believed
were of
one heart and soul,
and no one said that any of the things that
belonged to him was his own,
but they had everything in common”
(Acts 4:32, ESV).
The early church,
being in one accord, had
“no schisms, no divided interests,
no discordant purposes”
(from Notes on the Bible by Albert Barnes, 1834).
This kind of
oneness of heart and soul
in the body of Christ is only
possible through
the Holy Spirit’s enabling
(Ephesians 4:1–6).
It is a gift of God’s grace
(Romans 12:3–13). The Greek term translated
“in one accord,”
according to the Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon,
“helps us understand the uniqueness
of the
Christian community. . . .
The image is almost
musical;
a number of notes are sounded which,
while different, in pitch and tone.
As the instruments of a great concert
under
the direction of a concert master, so the
Holy Spirit
blends together the lives of members of
Christ’s church.”
A case study of light & dark
A young Rembrandt
proves himself...
and light appeared as a thing separate from darkness.
The phrase let there be light could be confusing to some modern
English speakers who are used to
using the word let in the context of permission, as in
“Let me out of this box”
or “Let me have the last cookie.”
Some might wonder whom is God speaking to.
Was there some
cosmic jailer who was
keeping the light under
lock and key?
From the collector...
George Kremer calls "Bust of an old man with turban"
(ca 1627 - 1628)
by Rembrandt van Rijn
"a study of light",
as the artist here
studies the incidence of light.
The light comes from somewhere
upper left behind the man, illuminating directly:
the goldthread on the turban, the blood flow thru the right ear,
the wrinkly old skin, the scarf around the old man's neck
and on his shoulder, catching the tip of the feather as well as the right side of his nose. And indirectly by the reflections from the back wall
(which is left undefined): the turban below the clasp, the left
cheek, his clothing & the ridge of the nose.
The phrase let there be light is a translation of the
Hebrew phrase yehi ˈor, which was
translated “fiat lux” in Latin.
A literal translation would be a command, something like
“Light, exist.”
God is speaking into the void and commanding
light
to come into being.
The Bible tells us that God created the heavens and the earth and everything
else that exists by simply speaking them into existence
(Genesis 1)
His personality, power, creativity, and beauty
were expressed in creation the
same way
an artist’s personality and personal attributes
are expressed through art or music.
The idea of light, existing first in God’s mind,
was given form by the words
“Let there be light” or ”Let light exist.”
The reality of the
creative power of God’s voice
has important spiritual implications that go
well beyond the creation account itself.
Light is often used as a metaphor in the Bible,
and the word illumination
(“divine enlightenment of the human heart with truth”)
has to do with bringing things
into the light.
Spiritual illumination
is a kind of
“creation”
that occurs in a human heart.
“God, who said, ‘
Let light shine out of darkness,’
made his
light shine in our hearts to give us
the light of the knowledge
of
God’s glory
displayed in the face of Christ”
(2 Corinthians 4:6).
Jesus Himself is “the light of the world”
(John 8:12).
When God said, “Let there be light,” at the creation, and
light appeared,
it showed God’s creative power and absolute control.
The physical light that God made on the first day of creation is a wonderful picture of what He does in every heart that trusts in Christ, the True Light.
There is no need to walk in the darkness of sin and death; in Christ, we “will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life”
(John 8:12).
Rembrandt
and the
Woman at the Well
Though he’s known best for his portrayal of the Dutch world of his time, Rembrandt was very interested in stories from the Bible, both from the Old and New Testament. Possibly one third of his work is devoted to biblical subjects, about 700 drawings among them.
What led him
to paint and draw
biblical events?
It wasn’t mainly a patron’s commission, as was the case of his contemporaries– Rubens, for instance. Rembrandt seems genuinely attracted to the bible and felt compelled to draw from the biblical narrative, not because he could make money on it, but because it spoke to him and his situation in life.
“Rembrandt’s relation to the biblical narrative
was so intense that he repeatedly
felt impelled to depict what he read there.
These sketches of Rembrandt have the quality of a diary.
It is as though he made marginal notes to himself…
The drawings are testimonies,
self-revelations of
Rembrandt the Christian.”
(Rembrandt’s Drawings and Etchings for the Bible. p. 6)
It seems this interest in the bible came, in part,
from his mother, a devout woman,
who had a Catholic prayerbook that featured the
Sunday gospels with illustrations on facing pages.
His portrayal of scriptural stories are
so insightful.
Just look at his portrayal of Jesus
at the
well with the Samaritan woman,
which is found in John’s gospel.
Jesus deferentially asks for a drink of water, bowing to the woman as he points to the well. And she stands in charge, her hands firmly atop her bucket. She’s a Samaritan and a woman, after all. He wont get the water until she says so.
Jesus looks tired, bent over
by the weariness of a day’s long
journey.
Certainly, this is no quick study of a
gospel story.
Obviously,
Rembrandt has thought about the
Word
who made our universe
and
humbled himself to
redeem us.
Perhaps he’s also thinking of the way Catholics and Protestants at the time were clashing among themselves, their picture of Jesus a strong, vigorous warrior. But here he stands humbly outside a little Dutch village that the artist’s contemporaries might recognize. Some of them may be pictured
looking on at the two.
Artists have a powerful role
in
relating truth and beauty
And what about Rembrandt’s mother?
A 19th century French Sulpician priest, Felix Dupanloup,
who had a lot to do with early American Catholic
catechetical theory said to parents:
“Till you have brought your children to pray as they should,
you have done nothing.”
Looks like she did her job
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