'a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith'. This wonderful tribute to this saint was written by St Luke in Acts 12. Because of these qualities Barnabas was called 'an Apostle' even though he was not one of the original twelve. He was born 'Joseph', but was known by the other Christian leaders as 'Barnabas' meaning 'son of encouragement'. All this from perhaps a rather unlikely background given the hostility of so many prominent Jews to the teaching, life, death and resurrection of Jesus. For Barnabas was born a prosperous Jew, a member of a Levite family which had for many generations been part of the strong Jewish settlement on the island of Cyprus. He was almost certainly present at the stoning of Stephen the first martyr and, at the scene of that tragedy, would have seen Saul of Tarsus the fierce denunciator of the followers of Jesus (Acts 7).
He was to play a leading role in the spreading of the gospel beyond the Holy Land, working with Peter, Paul and John Mark and proving to be one of the first of the great missionaries. After Acts 15 we hear no more of him apart from one or two passing references to him in Paul's epistles. He established the new church in his homeland of Cyprus and, according to legend, met a martyr's death on that island, being, like Saint Stephen, stoned to death. So what were the characteristics which made Barnabas such a highly respected and well loved member of the Christian fellowship?
Generosity : his commitment was total for he sold his possessions and gave them to the new church.
Trust: he persuaded the wary church leaders in Jerusalem to accept Paul by telling them how Paul had been converted on his way to Damascus.
Leadership: he was sent to preach to the people of Antioch (north of Damascus); he was clearly the leader of the first missionary journey to Cyprus on which he was accompanied by Paul and John Mark.
Courage: he had strong opinions which he was not afraid to express. He tended to support St Peter rather than St Paul in the early discussions on how far Gentile converts should assume Jewish ways.
He spoke up for John Mark in whom Paul had little confidence to the extent that the 'disagreement' between the apostles, 'became so sharp that they parted company'. (Acts 15) All these characteristics paint a picture of a man of strength, of commitment, of action and of integrity. Hence his popularity as a saint with many artists choosing him as a subject and many churches and organisations adopting him as their patron saint. Barnabas an apostle: 'full of the Holy Spirit'.
Richard Allen