Who is the Apostle of Barnabas? We find this name in the New Testament, in the Acts. He is a constant companion of the Apostle Paul, travels with him and preaches the faith of Christ. But there is not a word about him in the Gospels. Where did Barnabas come from? How did he become an apostle? Has he ever seen the Son of God? When did he begin to follow? This remains to be seen in this article. Let us study the biography (life), deeds and suffering for the faith (martyrdom) of this saint.
Apostle of the Seventy
All four canonical gospels mention that Jesus chose twelve disciples. The number 12 is so magical that when Judas Iscariot betrayed Christ, the remaining eleven apostles elevated Matthew to their rank to supplement the number (Acts 1:26). But Barnabas was not among these twelve. To understand how he became ranked among the apostles, you need to read chapter ten of the Gospel of Luke. In it, the Lord says: "There is a lot of harvest, but few workers in the field." After that, He chose seventy people from a large number of his followers, whom he sent two at a time to "every place and every city where he intended to go." They were to preach the message of the Messiah to the inhabitants of those places. These students are called the "Apostles of the Seventy." Among them is the apostle Barnabas. The election of seventy disciples took place in the last year of Christ's work on earth. The Lord gave them the same commandments as the twelve apostles during the Sermon on the Mount. But since they were not immediately elected, many of them could not fully understand and accept the teachings of Christ. This is reported in the sixth chapter of the Gospel of John. When Christ said in Capernaum that He is the living bread that came down from heaven, and that whoever eats it will never die, many of the seventy "left Him and did not follow him anymore."
Disciple firm in faith
Was there an apostle of Barnabas among these apostates? As we see from the following description of the life of the Church, no. He had a sharp mind and understood that the Lord is the Word of God. His commandments must be absorbed in the heart (is) and fulfill them in order to have eternal life. When Christ, after many of the seventy apostles left Him, turned to the twelve: “Would you like to follow their example?” But Peter answered for everyone: “Where do we go? You, Lord, have the verbs of eternal life. " Thus, we see that Barnabas, along with the eleven apostles, remained with Jesus. He was a faithful disciple, although his name is not mentioned in any Gospel. The activities of Barnabas as a “harvest worker” in the field of Christ are more fully described in the book of the New Testament following the Gospels. And what can we know about his life? In the "Acts" about this is only a grain of information. Let us turn to the Lives of the Saints, although this source cannot be completely trusted.
The Apostle Barnabas: biography and deeds
The real name of the ascetic of faith and companion of St. Paul was Joseph. He was born into a wealthy Jewish family. We can say that he was a noble family: from the tribe of Levi also came the Old Testament prophets - Aaron, Moses, Samuel. Barnabas is considered the uncle (or cousin) of the evangelist Mark. According to other sources, he could also be a relative of Aristobulus. But Barnabas was born in Cyprus. His parents left for the island due to military unrest in Palestine. But they still had a house nearby Jerusalem. To the Levite men, the law of Moses prescribed to know the Scriptures. While the boy Joseph was small, his father himself instructed him in faith. And when he became a young man, his parents sent him for further education to Jerusalem, to the famous expert on the Torah Gamaliel. There, the future apostle Barnabas, whose life was now completely changed, met Paul (in those days, Saul).
The role of Gamaliel
This character is also mentioned in Acts. You can read about it in chapter 5 of this book. When the twelve apostles preached in Jerusalem, healing the weak, the Pharisees burned with malice and even thought to kill them. But at the meeting, the respected law teacher Gamaliel took the floor. He cited historical examples when impostors, asserting that they are the messengers of God, were defeated and their disciples scattered. He advised the Pharisees not to plot evil against the apostles. After all, what is conceived by people will itself collapse. And if this is the work of God, then nothing and no one can resist it. You will only incur the wrath of the Lord. Here the apostle Barnabas was brought up with such a teacher. Saint Paul also speaks of Gamaliel as an indisputable authority among the Jews. Emphasizing that he himself is not alien to the law of Moses, the Apostle says: "I am a Jew, brought up at the feet of Gamaliel, carefully instructed by faith, a zealot of God." Thus, we can conclude that the apprenticeship of this famous Pharisee prepared Barnabas for the unexposed adoption of a new teaching.
Coming to christ
The Lives of the Saints assure that the future apostle often went to pray in the narthex of Solomon’s temple. There he witnessed the many miracles of healing that Christ showed in Jerusalem. Having believed, he fell at the feet of the Son of God and asked for permission to follow him as a disciple. And when Christ left Jerusalem and retired to Galilee, Barnabas went after him. There he became one of the seventy apostles. He shared the teachings of the Lord and remained faithful to him to the end. According to the testimony of John Chrysostom, Joseph had the gift of persuading people, as well as comforting those who mourn. Therefore, the apostles gave him another name - Barnabas. It means "Son of Consolation." And the holy apostle Barnabas showed his gift of conviction by persuading the disciples of the Lord in Jerusalem not to be afraid of the former evil persecutor of Christians Saul.
Beginning Missionary Work
Neither the Gospel nor the “Acts” mention when and how the former Joseph of Cyprus joined the teaching of Christ. But one thing is certain: he did it earlier than his "schoolmate" Saul. Barnabas is first mentioned in Acts in chapter four. As befits the disciple of Christ, he sold his house and land, and put the money "at the feet of the apostles." The second time it is mentioned in Scripture is in connection with Paul, the future pillar of the Church. When he was heading to Damascus to arrest Christians, Christ appeared to him with the question, "Why are you persecuting me?" After that, the evil man turned and realized that he had previously been blind. In Damascus, Paul was instructed in the Christian faith by a certain Ananias. When the Pharisees of the city decided to kill the convert, he was forced to flee to Jerusalem. But there the disciples of Christ were afraid to accept him, because glory was spreading about him as the persecutor of a new faith. And here Barnabas is again mentioned in Acts (9:27). He persuaded his brothers to accept the convert without fear. Since then, the apostle Barnabas and the apostle Paul have become almost inseparable.
Further activities
Both missionaries traveled a lot. They visited Antioch, Asia Minor, Cyprus, Greece. There they founded a huge number of Christian communities. When famine broke out in Jerusalem, the Antiochian believers raised money and sent it with Barnabas and Paul to their distressed brothers. As for this period (about 45 A.D.), the name of Barnabas is mentioned before Paul. The inhabitants of Lystra compared the first apostle with Zeus, and the second with Hermes (Acts 14:12). Barnabas and Paul took part in the cathedrals of the apostles of 48 and 51 years. But after this the apostles parted. Paul began to travel and preach with his new companion, the Force. They focused their missionary work on Asia Minor, Thrace, and Hellas. And Barnabas with John, named Mark (his cousin or nephew), went to Cyprus. It is at this event that the story in “Acts” about Barnabas ends.
What is known about future activities
From the Life of the Saints, it is known that the apostle became the first bishop of Cyprus. He preached all over the island and founded many Christian communities. Church tradition claims that it was stoned by pagans in 61. His relics miraculously "found" in 478 near the city of Salamis, at the eastern tip of the island. On this site in the fifth century the monastery of the Apostle Barnabas was founded. Now it is not operational and is a historical and architectural monument. And the relics of the holy Apostle Barnabas are stored in the church of the town of Conkadei Marini in Italy.
Proceedings
The Epistles of the Bishop of Cyprus were not included in the Canon. Most likely, they existed, since all the apostles addressed their believers in writing. The recently discovered Sinai Codex contains text attributed to Barnabas. In this Epistle, the apostle tries to interpret the Old Testament. He says this book is closed to the Jews. Only those who seek predictions about the coming of Jesus Christ can understand the Old Testament. The apostle Barnabas is also credited with two false texts composed much later. A book on wanderings and martyrdom was written in the fifth century, probably to confirm the Lives of the Saints. And in the Middle Ages, the fake Gospel of Barnabas was composed. It describes the gospel events from the point of view of the Muslim religion (then not yet existing).
Icon of the Apostle Barnabas
Despite the fact that this Saint parted with Paul, there was no contention between them. The apostle speaks very warmly and respectfully of his brother in the First Epistle to the Corinthians (9: 6). And the Letter to the Colossians (4:10) contains one mention of the later joint activities of Barnabas and Paul. An apostle of seventy is honored both in the Roman Catholic and in Orthodox churches. Orthodox Christians celebrate Barnabas Memorial Day twice a year - January 17 and June 24. In Catholicism, this apostle is revered on June 11. In religious painting there are many icons of the Apostle Barnabas. The photo of one of them shows us a man of a slightly advanced age, whose dark hair was barely touched by gray hair. Since Barnabas has the apostolic rank, he is dressed in a tunic and a hematium, and holds a scroll in his hands. Sometimes icon painters portray him as the first archbishop of Cyprus. In this case, he is portrayed in holy vestments.