St. Barnabas 29. Parting of the Ways. God the Holy Spirit, with the Apostles and Elders of the Church, had now clearly spoken that Gentile believers were full members of the Church without circumcision and without the burden of the entire Jewish Law.  We are told “Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also” ( Ac 15:35 ). We know the Church at Antioch of Syria was rich with prophets and teachers ( Ac 13:1 ), and in the roughly nine years since St. Barnabas was first sent to Antioch ( Ac 11:22 ) and Euodious appointed second Bishop of Antioch (after St. Peter), no doubt the Church continued to grow with these “many others” teaching and preaching as well. But the Letter from the Apostles and Elders was not just for the Antiochian Church. It was also for all the Gentile Churches which Barnabas and Paul had previously founded in the couple years prior. So it is no surprise that St. Luke writes, “After some days ...

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 27. The Jerusalem Council. It is now April of 49 AD. St. Barnabas, St. Paul, and “some others were appointed” by the church at Antioch “to go up to Jerusalem to the Apostles and the Elders” about the question of whether Gentiles who became Christians had to keep the entire Jewish Law ( Ac 15:2 ). You may recall that Barnabas, Paul (then Saul), and Titus had also gone to Jerusalem a few years previous at the time of the famine in Judea. They had discussed their preaching the Gospel among the Gentiles with the Apostles Peter, James, and John, and had received the “right hand of fellowship” to continue evangelization of the Gentiles. ( Ac 11:29-30 ; Gal 2:1-10 .) Precisely because their missionary work was bearing so much fruit, some Jewish Christian sensibilities were aroused to insist that Gentile converts had to keep the entire Jewish Law. We saw last week that Paul and Barnabas strongly countered that assertion ( Ac 15:2 ). So now Barnabas, Paul, and company were ...

  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 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 ban...

  St. Barnabas 23. Lystra and St. Timothy. We last left St. Barnabas and St. Paul in Lystra ( Ac 14:6 ), preaching the Gospel in the streets. As it turns out, some of the troublemakers from Antioch of Pisidia and Iconium had followed Barnabas and Paul to Lystra, and Acts tells us specifically they were Jewish ( Ac 14:19 ). One would think that preaching about the “living God who made heaven and earth” ( Ac 14:15 ) would be applauded by any good Jew, but apparently they were just out for blood. It may have been that day, or perhaps weeks later, but at some point the people of Lystra and these troublemakers rose up in anger and stoned Paul, then dragged him out of the city, presumably now dead ( Ac 14:19 ). Stonings normally happened outside towns and cities (better to find rocks and dispose of the corpse), so this implies a raging crowd killing Paul right on the spot in the streets and then dumping his body outside of town. Paul includes this event in a litany of woes when a d...