Our Lady of Lourdes Church Blog

St. Barnabas 12. Commissioned to Antioch.

      In St. Luke’s history of the early Church in the book of Acts, he begins with the story of the witness of the Apostles after Pentecost mostly in Palestine, and then transitions to the story of the witness of Saul/St. Paul mostly to the Gentiles. [1] The connecting person joining the two stories, or witnesses, is St. Barnabas, and the transition is found in Luke’s narration of Barnabas being sent by the Jerusalem Church to aid the Antioch Church, where he became something of a mentor to Saul (Ac 11:19-26).

      It is now about 41 AD, eleven years after the death of Christ and nine years after the death of St. Stephen, so disciples have already been evangelizing in Antioch for at least these nine years, both to Jews and Gentiles (Ac 11:19-20). What was the result of these evangelization efforts at Antioch? “And the hand of the Lord was with them,” – a common OT expression signifying the presence of divine power validating their testimony [2] – “and a great number that believed turned to the Lord” – signifying not only accepting in faith the message of the Gospel, but also repentance in turning away from sin and toward God [3] (Ac 11:21).

      When the Jerusalem Church learned of so many conversions in Antioch, who did the Apostles send to Antioch? St. Barnabas. We have already seen Barnabas’ high character, particularly in being the mediary who vouched for Saul (Ac 9:27). And we have explored hints of Barnabas’ possible evangelization work during the prior nine years, possibly including Antioch. So he was the one chosen and sent.

      Scripture tells us that when Barnabas came to Antioch “and saw the grace of God, he was glad” – Barnabas rejoiced in the Lord (reminiscent of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the Annunciation: “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,” Lk 1:46-47) – and Barnabas then “exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose” (Ac 11:23). Luke then gives us the profound Biblical character reference for Barnabas: “For he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith” (Ac 11:24). No wonder he was the one, the Apostle, chosen to go to Antioch, third among the cities of the Roman world after Rome and Alexandria [4], and to build up the first local Church outside of Jerusalem.

      What was the result of the loving care of this one who was glad, who exhorted them to remain faithful and steadfast? “A large company was added to the Lord” (Ac 11:24). More believers meant Barnabas needed more help. He sought out his long-time friend, Saul, now living in Tarsus, a few miles northwest of Antioch of Syria. Barnabas brought Saul to Antioch and, “For a whole year they met with the Church, and taught a large company of people” (Ac 11:26). So now we see the gift of teaching in addition to Barnabas’ gift of exhortation. Scripture indicates that in growing and forming the Church at Antioch, the Holy Spirit had brought together people (Barnabas, Simeon Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen, and Saul) with gifts (charisms) of exhortation, teaching, and prophecy for the building up of the Church (Ac 11:26, 13:1; cf., Ro 12:6-8). We do our part; but the gift is the Lord’s. 

       Luke adds, “And in Antioch the disciples were for the first time called Christians” (Ac 11:26). The Hebrew word Messiah means Anointed; the Greek translation is Christ. So the expression was calling the believers in Jesus, “the Anointed Ones.” Whether or not it may have initially meant a term of derision or admiration, or merely referring to followers of Jesus the Christ, the Church in Antioch adopted it as a title of honor. [5] “Christians” they were thereafter and still today.

      The tradition of the Antiochian Church says that St. Euodious (Evodius) succeeded St. Peter as Bishop of Antioch about 39 AD. However, dating is difficult to do with certainty, and whether Euodious was appointed before or after Barnabas’ arrival in Antioch can be debated. So we ask: Why wasn’t Barnabas appointed Bishop? One historian has commented that while Barnabas would have been “the effective leader of the church in Antioch, ... he was a man of so much talent and zeal that Peter doubtless expected him soon to be called for evangelization elsewhere (as he was, with Paul). So Peter chose for bishop of Antioch a Greek convert (very likely a former pagan) named Evodius, who governed the church in that city until succeeded by the great St. Ignatius” [6] (about 68/69 AD).

Dibby Allan Green

Reference

[1]  Kurz, William S., S.J., Acts of the Apostles, part of the Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture series (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2013), p. 186.

[2] Johnson, Luke Timothy, The Acts of the Apostles, Sacra Pagina Series. Vol. 5, Harrington, Daniel J., S.J., Ed. (Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1992), p. 203.

[3] Kurz, ibid., p. 

[4] Flavius Josephus, The Wars of the Jews, 3.29.

[5] See Asch, Sholem, The Apostle, Samuel, Maurice, tr. (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1943), pp. 289-290.

[6] Carroll, Warren H., The Founding of Christendom, A History of Christendom Vol. 1 (Front Royal, VA: Christendom Press, 1985), p. 404. See also Downey, Glanville, A History of Antioch in Syria from Seleucus to the Arab Conquest (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1961), pp. 282-286, 584-585.

 

Originally published in the print edition of the Mojave Desert News  dated July 29, 2021, modified.

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.