[Thursday's Devotional] - Barnabas: unsung brother of encouragement

Barnabas: unsung brother of encouragement

 

Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement)
Acts 4:36 [ESV]

I have never heard a sermon preached about St. Barnabas, and in all my years in church have only ever attended one Bible study devoted to finding out about his character.  Barnabas deserves the title underdog, simply because the church has never recognised his contribution to First Century mission.  His name appears around thirty times in the New Testament, mainly in Acts, but he is also mentioned by Paul in 1 Corinthians, Galatians and Colossians.
Let me just point out a few things that Barnabas got up to in his ministry…

1. He sold a field that he owned and gave the money to the Apostles to share among the believers.
2. When Saul the great persecutor of the church, became a Christian (taking the name Paul), the disciples in Jerusalem were scared of him and did not believe that he had truly converted.  Barnabas had to personally bring him to the other disciples to gain their trust.
3. He was sent on missionary journeys to accompany and support Paul.
4. He and Paul went their separate ways for a while because Barnabas wanted John Mark to accompany them on a visit to the churches that they had set up.  Paul did not want to take John Mark as he had left them on a previous journey.  Barnabas wanted to give him another chance.
5. Barnabas and John Mark went to Cyprus to evangelise the island.
6. When Paul was imprisoned (house arrest) in Rome at the end of his life, he had a few companions with him from Jerusalem who helped him. John Mark was prominent among them.  It has been suggested that Barnabas ‘influenced’ this reconciliation.
7. Barnabas was probably martyred for his faith in AD61.

Barnabas’ ministry is often overlooked in the light of Paul’s.  But I don’t think that the first missionary journeys of Paul would have succeeded without Barnabas.  The church needs more people like Barnabas: people who understand that it doesn’t matter who gets remembered most, but do what they’re supposed to do anyway.  The church needs more people who realise, like Barnabas did, that it’s all about Jesus.

John Martin-Jones