St.Barnabas

Position: apostle
Death: around AD 61
Patron: weavers, coopers, of Milan and Florence; protector against disputes, falling stones, hail, and sadness
Attributes: stoning, olive branch, sometimes a book

BIOGRAPHY

He arrived in Jerusalem to study the Old Testament. There, he also came to know the law of Jesus Christ and joined his disciples. He sold his property and gave the money to the apostles to distribute to poor believers. He was full of the Holy Spirit and faith. He took Paul in after his conversion and introduced him to the apostles. He preached the Gospel in Antioch, from which he accompanied Paul on his first apostolic journey and, with him, founded Christian communities. He took part in the Council of Jerusalem around AD 50 and spoke there immediately after Peter. He then left with Mark for his native island of Cyprus, where, according to oral tradition, he was stoned by the Jews in AD 60–62 and then perhaps burned.

BIOGRAPHY FOR MEDITATION

WE MUST GO THROUGH MANY TRIALS BEFORE ENTERING THE KINGDOM OF GOD (Acts 14:22).

He came from a Jewish Levitical family on the island of Cyprus, and because he worked closely with the apostles and his activity was very significant in the early church, he is given the title of apostle. His original name was Joseph, and the name Barnabas, meaning “Son of Encouragement,” was given to him by the apostles because of his character and his influence on those around him. He likely came to Jerusalem for education. According to some, he was among the 72 disciples mentioned in the Gospel, but this is nowhere documented and is regarded only as a conjecture. Besides the gift of encouragement, he is said to have had the charisma of clairvoyance.

We read about him more often in the Acts of the Apostles, which introduces him as early as chapter 4. It also says there that “he had a field, sold it, brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet” (Acts 4:37). We can say that he then became one of the greatest missionaries. Acts further says of him: “He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith, and a great many people were brought to the Lord” (Acts 11:24). His first place of ministry is Antioch, where believers who had fled from Jerusalem began spreading the faith, and the representatives of the Jerusalem church sent Barnabas there with confidence to that Syrian metropolis. He went to Tarsus to fetch the converted Saul, for whom he had earlier interceded with the apostles, and brought him with him. In Antioch, they proclaimed the good news and taught a great many people for a whole year, as written in Acts.

From Jerusalem, prophets came to Antioch, including Agabus, who, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, foretold a worldwide famine. Because of this, the believers in Antioch sent a collection through their two missionaries to the church leaders in Jerusalem. After completing their task, they returned with John, who called Mark. They apparently did not stay long in Antioch because Acts chapter 13 says that the Holy Spirit sent them on further missionary work to Seleucia and, from there, to Cyprus. They proclaimed the Word of God in Salamis, then traveled across the island to Paphos, where they had a conflict with a sorcerer. After defeating him, Paul took the lead, and even in Scripture, Paul’s name is thereafter placed before Barnabas’s. Perhaps in this context Barnabas’s virtue of humility is emphasized. The change in precedence bothered only Mark, who returned from Pamphylia, while the other two continued together through the Taurus Mountains to Pisidia and Iconium. It was difficult to preach the Gospel, with successes, opposition, and persecution.

In the Lycaonian city of Lystra, they also experienced a curious event: after healing a disabled person, the inhabitants began to regard Barnabas, the older and more majestic one, as the god Zeus, and Paul, the chief speaker, as Hermes, the messenger of the gods. Both had to resist this strongly, for the priest of Zeus’s temple brought them to the gate, garlanded with bulls, and wanted to offer sacrifice to the apostles together with the people. The two tore their clothes and cried out: “We too are only mortal men like you. We are bringing you good news, so that you may turn from these worthless things to the living God …” (Acts 14:15). Then the Jews arrived, having already persecuted the apostles in the previous cities, and persuaded the local people to stone Paul. After reaching Derbe, they returned from the first missionary journey through Lystra, Iconium, and Pisidian Antioch. Everywhere they encouraged the disciples and said to them: “We must go through many trials before entering the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). The appointment of elders was apparently in practice the ordination of priests, or possibly bishops, who led the Christian communities after the apostles left.

They returned to Antioch around AD 48. There, the peace was disturbed by people converted from Judaism, who wanted believers to submit also to circumcision. Barnabas and Paul opposed these demands, but that was not enough. Messengers were sent with them to the apostles in Jerusalem. In Jerusalem, after their arrival, the apostolic council assembled and finally decided that those converted from paganism need not be forced to observe the Mosaic law with circumcision. The council’s decision was then accepted in Antioch, and the community continued to flourish.

Paul decided to undertake a second apostolic journey through the churches of Asia Minor. He invited Barnabas again, but Barnabas wanted to go only with his cousin Mark, whom Paul rejected. They did not agree, and Barnabas left with Mark for Cyprus, while Silas went with Paul in AD 50. The apostles’ disagreement was not permanent, but it teaches us how personal reasons can disrupt even the relationship of people of character with the highest ideals.

In the prison epistles, Paul mentions Barnabas positively (cf. Col 4:10–11; Phlm 24) as his helper (2 Tim 4:11). From the mention in the First Letter to the Corinthians: “Or is it only I and Barnabas who are obliged to earn our living?” (1 Cor 9:6), it follows that before AD 57, they were again working together. Barnabas was known to the Corinthian communities.

Many details about Barnabas’s fate are missing. Historians, however, consider it certain that he preached the Gospel not only in Cyprus but also in Greece. Some later biographies also name Italy as a place of his ministry, which historians strongly doubt. Barnabas likely died a martyr’s death, according to an old tradition, by stoning and burning in Salamis near Famagusta on Cyprus, where his tomb is also located.

His relics were divided several times. They are said to be in some cities in Italy, as well as Cologne and Andechs in Germany, Prague, Toulouse, and Namur.