Power to Raise the Dead.       Jesus, His disciples, and a great crowd went to the town of Naim. As they got there, they saw several men carrying a bier with a dead man on it, heading for burial. The man was the only son of a widow. Jesus had great compassion on her. “Do not weep,” He said. He approached the bier and said to the corpse, “Young man, I say to you arise.” The man sat up and began speaking. (Lk 7:11-17.)       Scripture tells us Jesus raised three people from the dead. In addition to this widow’s son, he raised Jarius’s daughter (Lk 8:41-42,49-56) and Lazarus of Bethany (John 11:1-45). In Israel’s history, by God’s power, the Prophet Elijah had raised the son of the widow of Zarephath after he had died (1 Kings 17:17-24), and Elijah’s successor, Elisha, likewise raised from the dead the only son of a couple from Shunem (2 Kings 4:32-35). All these “raisings” in Scripture were only the returning of natural human life after having died....

St. Barnabas 28. How the Jerusalem Council Decree Was Understood.       The “beloved” ( Ac 15:25 ) St. Barnabas and St. Paul left Jerusalem, accompanied by Judas Barsabbas and Silas, and bearing the letter for the Church in Gentile lands from the Apostles and Elders in Jerusalem ( Ac 15:22-29 ). Arriving in Antioch of Syria, they gathered the Church, read the letter, and the congregation “rejoiced at the exhortation” ( Ac15:30-31 ).       Recall that the issue was whether the Gentiles who became believers in Jesus the Messiah, the Christ, had to accept the entire Jewish law, including its ceremonial and dietary provisions. This was an enormous question which Barnabas and Paul had dealt with over and over again.       Now the decision of the Apostles and Elders in Jerusalem, as written in the letter, was: “It has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us” – note the authority: God the Holy Spirit (consistent with the do...

  St. Barnabas 26. Dealing with a Difficult Question.       We saw last week that certain Jewish Christians had insisted that Gentile Christians had to follow the ceremonial laws of Judaism for salvation. St. Paul wrote his Letter to the Galatians – that is, to all the believers in the churches that he and St. Barnabas had formed on their recent missionary journey – to re-assert that salvation, “justification,” is solely based on faith in Jesus Christ. The letter was likely written early in 49 AD, perhaps not even a year after their return.       Paul’s passion expressed in this letter is brought out clearly in J. B. Phillip’s 1958 translation:       “O you dear idiots of Galatia, who saw Jesus Christ the Crucified so plainly, who has been casting a spell over you? I shall ask you one simple question: Did you receive the Spirit by trying to keep the Law or by believing the message of the Gospel? Surely you can’t be so...

St. Barnabas 25. Fraternal Correction. St. Barnabas and St. Paul, are now back in Antioch of Syria after their first missionary trip to Cyprus and Galatia (today’s southern Turkey). It is about 48 AD – about 18 years since Christ Jesus’ death and resurrection, 14 years since St. Stephen’s martyrdom, nine years since Barnabas had been sent to Antioch ( Ac 11:22 ), and five years since Barnabas had brought Paul to Antioch. St. Euodious remained Bishop of Antioch (39-61 AD), having been ordained by St. Peter. The book of Acts tells us, “Some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brethren,” the Christians in Antioch, Jew and Gentile, “‘Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.’” Naturally Barnabas and Paul “had no small dissension and debate with them” ( Ac 15:1-2 ). It was an issue they had faced many times before: Must Christian men submit to circumcision? Must all Christians submit to the Jewish ceremonial law and customs? Now betwe...

St. Barnabas 16. Reflection on Antioch Years.       Continuing the story of St. Barnabas’ life, the next recorded event in the Bible is the first missionary journey of Barnabas, Saul, and Mark. But before we set on the journey with them we might reflect on Barnabas’ years in Antioch (probably three, but could be about five).       In past articles we’ve suggested that Barnabas was something of a mentor to Saul/St. Paul during their work together in Antioch. Historian Henri Daniel-Ropes writes, “[I]t was in Antioch that Saul concluded his studies in the art of apostleship, under the guidance of a truly wise and good teacher [Barnabas]. Antioch, we must remember, was the city in which the essential development in the Christian missionary outlook was even now taking shape.” [1]       This mentoring task may well have been through the influence of Barnabas’ goodness, gift of the Holy Spirit, and gift of faith ( Ac 11:24 ) ...

  St. Barnabas 15. Prison and Angelic Intervention. Starting in 37 AD and until his death in 41 AD, Emperor Caligula gradually had given kingship rule over all of Palestine to Herod Agrippa I, grandson of Herod the Great, the one who slaughtered the Holy Innocents. Herod Agrippa I is mentioned in Acts 12: “About that time [likely 43 AD] Herod the king laid violent hands upon some who belonged to the Church. He killed James the brother of John with the sword; and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also.” ( Ac 12:1-3 .) Now Barnabas and Saul are still in Jerusalem on their famine relief mission, and it is the week following Passover ( Ac 12:3 ), Easter week for the Church. Luke tells the story solely focusing on Peter: Peter is in prison, asleep, chained between two guards. While the Church was in “earnest prayer” for him, an angel came, the chains fell off, the gates opened, and they walk out of prison. God’s marvelous intervention! Peter goes to ...

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 o...

Barnabas 10. Reconciliation with Saul.       During the early evangelization of the Church from around 32 to 34 AD which reached as far north as Antioch of Syria, another highly significant event occurred: the conversion of Saul, later known as St. Paul.       It was probably towards the end of 32 AD that the risen and glorified Christ Jesus appeared to Saul on the road to Damascus, Syria. Jesus identified Himself with His Church as His Body when He said, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?” ( Ac 9:4 .) Saul, for his part, was “still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord” ( Ac 9:1 ), but Jesus said, “Why do you persecute Me?” and, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting” ( Ac 9:4, 5 ).       Now Saul tells the story of his conversion many times in the Bible ( Ac 22:6-16 ; 26:12-18 ; Gal 1 ; Phil 3:3-11 ). Damascus of Syria is east of Tyre and Sidon, and a great distance south of Antioch. Saul remai...

St. Barnabas 9. Antioch.       Last week we looked at the Biblical record of the early evangelization from around 32 to 34 AD by the Apostles, Deacons, and disciples, which undoubtedly would have included Barnabas. And we know that later, probably about 41 AD, Barnabas is sent to evangelize in Antioch of Syria ( Ac 11:22 ).       What were the beginnings of the Church in Antioch?       In the tradition of the Eastern Church, St. Peter founded the Church of Antioch in 34 AD, which is the same time frame of this early evangelization when some went as far as Antioch ( Ac 11:19-20 ). The Bible doesn’t tell us, but it may well be that Peter came to Antioch with this group. Barnabas also could have come. As he was a Cypriot, it may have been with the second group ( Ac 11:20 ). As one author puts it: “Barnabas as a Cypriote would have felt quite at home in Antioch, and the people of the city would have recognized him as a member ...

  St.  Barnabas 5. Extended Family - Divine Strategy.       Last week we raised the question of what St. Barnabas’ extended family background per the African tradition – his sister Mary, her husband St. Aristobulus, their son St. John Mark, and Aristobulus’ relative Strapola being St. Peter’s wife; all living together in Jerusalem – might mean for Barnabas’ future mission, and for all the Church.       Now let’s add young Saul, friend of Barnabas, and later the converted St. Paul, to the mix. Perhaps he was a frequent visitor to their house as a youth, and certainly later when Paul was in Jerusalem.       In Thomas C. Oden’s The African Memory of Mark , Dr. Oden considers the Lord’s strategy here of bringing these diverse persons together. “Consider the international implications of this group of associates: One [Barnabas] was from Cyprus (a Greek island), one from Tarsus [Paul] (in Roman Asia) and one from C...

 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 Strapol...

  Barnabas 3. Disciple of Gamaliel with Saul?       It is important for us as Christians to learn from our Christian and Jewish ancestors in the faith, so we are exploring the life of St. Barnabas mentioned in the New Testament. We’ve seen the likely possibilities that St. Barnabas (Joseph) and St. Paul (Saul) were born around the same time (about 5 AD) and were trained together as disciples under Rabban Gamaliel the Elder in Jerusalem. What might their companionship have been like?        In his novel titled, The Apostle  [1], the Jewish Polish American novelist Sholem Asch (1880-1957) imagines both Joseph and Saul as hearing some of St. Peter’s preaching during the Pentecost festival, seven weeks after Jesus’ crucifixion.       These Galileans, Asch writes, typically wear “a robe of sackcloth [with] bony, protruding arms and legs, high heads thickly covered with black curls, tangled beards, flashing eyes” and speak ...