Barnabas and Antioch

Barnabas was a member of the tribe of Levi and from Cyprus. Some Jews had moved from their homeland years earlier. There had been a Jewish colony in Cyprus as early as 330 BC.  However, Barnabas wasn't his given name. His real name was Jonses. The apostles gave him the nickname of Barnabas because it meant encourager, and that fit the man.

Luke described Barnabas in several positive ways:

He was a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and faith (Luke 11:24).

Barnabas was also a teacher (Luke 13:1) and a prophet (Luke 14:14).

He was an apostle through whom God worked miracles (Luke 15:12).

Many of the believers fled Jerusalem and scattered over the known world after Stephen was martyred, and some settled in Antioch of Syria.  As a result, there was a spiritually strong group of believers there. The Christ-followers in Jerusalem sent Barnabas to Antioch to check on the congregation there. Barnabas saw a great need for teachers, and he sought out Saul to help with the task. Together, the two men worked within the church at Antioch. In fact, it was here that the new name was first used for such believers, "Christians."

Oh, how our churches could use teachers and encouragers like Paul and Barnabas today. Might God be calling you to be one or both of those?

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