St. Barnabas 24. Strengthening the Churches.
Last week we learned about St. Paul being
stoned by an angry mob at Lystra in Southern Galatia (modern Turkey). St. Luke
tells us that Paul was able to get up, come into the city, “and on the next day
he went on with Barnabas to Derbe” (Ac 14:20). The next day? The day after
Paul’s attackers were certain he was dead? Now he’s walking the next day?
Either divine intervention or powerful support by Barnabas. Probably both.
Derbe is a town about 60 miles to the
southeast. Luke only tells us that Paul and Barnabas preached the Gospel in
Derbe and made many disciples (Ac 14:21). In other words, they founded a local
church there.
Then they returned the same way they had
come: from Derbe to Lystra (where Paul was stoned); then to Iconium (where they
fled a plot to stone both Barnabas and Paul; and Church tradition also tells us
Paul was imprisoned and then banished from the city); and then back to the
Roman colony of Antioch of Psidia (where both had also been run out of town).
(Ac 14:21.) Why would they dare go back to the same places where they had been so
persecuted? To strengthen the souls of the disciples and to encourage them “to
continue in the Faith” (Ac 14:22). And so they strengthen the churches they had
founded the previous year or two.
And with Paul’s and Barnabas’ litany of
woes already filled, what were they preaching? “Through many tribulations we
must enter the kingdom of God” (Ac 14:22). They didn’t mince words. Their
bodies bore the sufferings. Each church they founded had witnessed the two
Apostles’ sufferings, and the believers surely had their own.
Remember from last week’s article when
Paul wrote to Timothy about Timothy having
“observed ... what befell me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra …
what persecutions I endured” (2 Tim 3:10-11). Paul’s next words to Timothy were,
“Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be
persecuted” (2 Tim 3:12). To be a Christian is to battle through tribulations
and sufferings. That’s normal. Jesus did the same. As did the prophets before
Him.
Now when Barnabas and Paul were first in
Lystra, Luke reminded his readers of their status as Apostles (Ac 14:14). Luke
has told us of their preaching and missionary efforts, of forming local
churches in each town, and of their sufferings and persecutions. Now Luke makes
a general summary statement of the Apostles Barnabas and Paul first appointing
elders (presbyters) “for them [the believers] in every church,” then “with
prayer and fasting, they committed them [the presbyters] to the Lord” (Ac14:23). This is the record of the apostolic ordination of the first presbyters
(later called bishops and priests) in Galatia. Paul and Barnabas did this “in
every church.” Make no mistake. Christ founded His Church (Mt 16:18), and the
Apostles founded local churches of the one Church wherever they preached the
Gospel. This Church had an organization. The Apostles appointed, and committed
to the Lord, presbyters, and did it for the people’s spiritual guidance.
From Antioch of Pisidia, Barnabas and Paul
(and whoever else, including St. Thekla, journeyed with them) went back down the
Taurus Mountain valleys to the southern coastal area called Pamphylia, shared
the Gospel in a couple of the coastal towns, and then caught a ship back home
to Antioch of Syria. “And when they arrived, they gathered the Church together
and declared all that God had done with them and how he had opened a door of
faith to the Gentiles. And they remained no little time with the disciples.”
(Ac 14:27-28.)
The journey probably began about 45/46 AD and their return was about 47/48 AD, so about two years. They would continue to on in Antioch until the Spring of 50 AD, another two years, except from about April to June of 49 AD when they were in Jerusalem.
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.