St. Barnabas 4. The African Memory of His Extended Family.
This week we look at St. Barnabas’ background from a new perspective.
In Thomas C. Oden’s “The African Memory of
Mark,” [1] Dr. Oden relates the African tradition as to Mark’s family. Recall from
our first article on St. Barnabas that John Mark is Barnabas’ sister’s son (Col4:10), and we also mentioned that the Orthodox tradition has St. Aristobulus (Ro16:10) as Barnabas’ brother. The African Coptic tradition understands this
“brother” to be what we call brother-in-law inasmuch as Barnabas’ sister, Mary
(Ac 12:12), was married to Aristobulus, which makes John Mark the son of Mary
and Aristobulus. [2]
Furthermore, the African tradition is that
St. Peter’s wife was named Strapola, and she was a relative of Aristobulus.
Dr. Oden tells it this way, quoting Coptic
scholar Girgis: “‘Peter was married to Strapola, a relative of Mark’s father’
[Aristobulus] and the family lived ‘together with Mark’s mother [Mary] and her
brother Barnabas,’ which ‘might explain the close intimacy between Mark and
Barnabas on the one hand, as well as between Mark and Peter, who called him
“son,” on the other.’” [3] (In 1 Pet 5:13, Peter writes, “my son Mark.”)
Very interesting! This extended family
unit all lived together! How might that be?
It would not be Galilee where Peter fished
before he met Christ (27 AD). It would be in Jerusalem where Mary’s house was
(Ac 12:12, in 43 AD). Barnabas was there also if he was indeed sent to
Jerusalem for study (perhaps at 15 or 16 years of age [4], c. 20-21 AD), while
serving in the Temple as a Levite (Ac 4:36), and where we know he was located following
Saul/Paul’s conversion (Ac 9:27, c. 35 AD; 11:22, c. 41 AD). So it may well
have been that Peter and his wife stayed with Mary, Aristobulus, John Mark, and
Barnabas when they came to Jerusalem for the different feasts each year, and
later during Christ’s ministry when Peter would be in town. It is believed that
Mary’s house was the same house called the “upper room” or “cenacle” where the
disciples were staying before Pentecost (Ac 1:13, 30 AD) and devoting
themselves to prayer (Ac 1:14), and we know Peter was staying there as well (Ac1:15). Thus when the angel rescues Peter from prison, he would naturally go
home (Ac 12:12, 43 AD).
So the African tradition correlates with the Biblical witness.
But, really, would people from Cyprus
(Barnabas, Mary, Aristobulus originally), Cyrene (in modern Libya; Mark, so likely Aristobulus and Mary later), and
Galilee (Peter, Strapola) really live together in Jerusalem in the First
Century? The answer is yes.
All are Jews. Though some were from the
Diaspora (Cyprus, Cyrene) and thus somewhat Hellenist, in general there was no
general tendency of the Jews to assimilate; the religious sentiment of Judaism
and the practice of the Jewish law dominated and they regarded themselves
essentially as Hebrews living abroad. [5] There was no weakening of ties with the
land of Israel and with the people living there, particularly in Jerusalem with
its Temple. [6] Different communities of the Diaspora even had their own synagogues
in Jerusalem (Ac 6:9), which also served as community centers and hostels (cf.,
Ac 2:5). [7] Temple authorities maintained contact throughout the Diaspora (e.g., 2Macc 1:10, 18), and news and fellowship was also shared at the customary
Sabbath common meals held both in the Diaspora and in the Holy Land. [8] So yes, indeed,
Jewish kinship ties would certainly be maintained in the First Century.
Thus God brought together quite a group in
Jerusalem at the time of Christ. What might this mean for Barnabas’ future
mission? For all the Church?
What does it imply for me today? Like Barnabas, God created each of us with wonderful forethought for our individual lives, and every bit of our past and present – including our exercise of free will – can serve our mission to abide in Jesus, to love as Jesus does, and bring His light into this world.
Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church is located in California City, CA. Visit our website at ollcalcity.org.
Dibby Allan Green has a BA in Religious Studies (Westmont College, 1978) and MA in Theology (Augustine Institute, 2019), is a lay Catholic hermit, and a parishioner of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish.