Today is the Feast of St. Barnabas.
He has an important place in our history because it was he who
introduced Paul into the apostolic company while they were still afraid of him.
Barnabas’ birth name is Joseph. He
was a native of Cyprus and a Levite. He
was a champion of the Gentile Mission of the early church, alongside Paul. In Acts 4 he sells a field and contributes
the money to the Jerusalem church. He
also gained a reputation as a preacher.
The apostles named him Barnabas, which means “son of encouragement.”
Acts 9 relates his introducing Paul to the believers at Antioch and
stands up for the genuineness of Paul’s conversion. Alongside Paul, he argued against the
requirement that Gentile converts first become ceremonial Jews before the
Council at Jerusalem. Barnabas took John
Mark with him back to Cyprus as a missional partner after Paul rejected John
Mark for not showing the desired perseverance Paul expected of missionaries
(Acts 15). Luke reports in Acts 11:24
that Barnabas “was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith.” Tradition credits him with the founding of
the Christian Church at Cyprus. He is
said to have been stoned to death in Salamis in 61 AD. However, this is not among the oldest of
traditions associated with Barnabas.
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