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Saint
Barnabas
11 June
Barnabas,
a Jew from the tribe of Levi from which the priests at the temple in Jerusalem
were chosen, was a native of the Greek Island of Cyprus.
The Acts of the Apostles describes Barnabas as
'a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith' (Acts 6:24). His Jewish
parents called him Joseph, but when he sold all his goods and gave the money to
the apostles in Jerusalem, they gave him a new name: Barnabas, which means 'son
of consolation' or 'man of encouragement.' Although Barnabas was not among the
original Twelve, he is traditionally thought to have been among the 72
commissioned by Jesus to preach; thus, he is given the honorary title of
Apostle.
Living with the earliest Christians in Jerusalem,
he was one of the first to welcome Saint Paul, the former persecutor of the
early Church, and his former schoolmate. He persuaded the Christians of
Jerusalem to accept Paul's claim that he was now a believer in Jesus (Acts
9:26-30). Barnabas was sent to Antioch to investigate the community of
non-Jewish believers there (Acts 11:22ff), and brought Paul there from Tarsus.
It was in Antioch that the followers of The Way were first called Christians.
With Paul he took the Antiochean donation to Jerusalem community during a
famine.
Thereafter he, his cousin John Mark, and Paul
returned to Antioch before setting out together on the first missionary journey
of the Christian church (Acts 13:2ff). They went first to Cyprus, Barnabas'
native land, and for this reason Barnabas is honoured as the founder of the
Cypriot church. Then they continued on to Perga (whence John Mark returned to
Jerusalem), Antioch in Pisidia (where they were so violently opposed by the Jews
that they decided to preach to the pagans), and Iconium (where they were
stoned). At Lystra in Lycaonia, they were thought to be gods because of the
miracles they worked; however, they were stoned out of the city, and fled back
to Antioch in Syria. When a dispute arose regarding the observance of the Jewish
laws and customs, Paul and Barnabas returned to Jerusalem for the council that
decided that non-Jews would not have to be circumcised to be baptized.
When they returned to Antioch, Barnabas wanted Paul
and John Mark to continue their travels with him, but Paul fell out with John
Mark--perhaps because John Mark had abandoned them at Perga. In spite of Paul's
extremely forceful character, Barnabas took Mark's side, demonstrating that he
was a man of considerable determination and courage. The Acts of the Apostles
says, "There arose a sharp contention between them. Barnabas took Mark with
him and sailed away to Cyprus" (Acts 15:39). Paul chose a new ally, Silas,
and went elsewhere to strengthen the churches. Little more is heard of Barnabas
though it is believed that the rift with Paul was healed because we read about
Barnabas later in 1 Corinthians 9:6.
Tradition says that Barnabas preached in Alexandria
and Rome, and was stoned to death at Salamis about 61 AD.
The Order of Barnabites, founded by Saint Antony Zaccaria in Milan in
1530, took their name from their principal church named for this saint, who was
once believed to have been the first bishop of Milan. The apocryphal Epistle
of Barnabas was long attributed to him, but modern scholarship now
attributes it to an Alexandrian Christian between 70 and 100 AD. The Gospel
of Barnabas was probably written by an Italian Christian who became an
Islamic. The Acts of Barnabas, once attributed to John Mark, are now
known to have been written in the 5th century.
Acknowledgements:
Text adapted from
Saint
Barnabas Church, Augusta, Maine
Image from
Saint
Barnabas Church, Augusta, Maine
