The Holy Apostle Barnabas

Who is the apostle Barnabas? This name we meet in the New Testament, in the Acts. He is the invariable companion of the apostle Paul, travels with him and preaches the faith of Christ. But in the Gospels there is not a word about it. Where did Barnabas come from? How did he become an apostle? Did he ever see the Son of God? When did He follow Him? This is to be clarified in this article. Let's study the biography (life), deeds and suffering for the faith (martyrdom) of this saint.

Apostle of the Seventy

All four canonical Gospels mention that Jesus chose twelve disciples. Number 12 is so magical that when Judas Iscariot betrayed Christ, the other eleven apostles elevated to the rank of Matthew to complement the number (Acts 1:26). But among these twelve was not Barnabas. To understand how he became numbered among the apostles, you need to read chapter ten of the Gospel of Luke. In it the Lord says: "There is much harvest, but there are few workers in the field." After this, He chose from among a large number of his followers seventy people, who were sent by two to "every place and every city where He himself intended to go." They were to preach to the people of those places the coming of the Messiah. These disciples are called "apostles of seventy". Among them is the Apostle Barnabas. The election of seventy disciples took place in the last year of Christ's activity on earth. The Lord gave them the same commandments as the twelve apostles during the Sermon on the Mount. But since they were not elected immediately, many of them could not fully understand and accept the teachings of Christ. This is the sixth chapter of the Gospel of John. When Christ said in Capernaum that He is the living bread that came down from heaven, and that whoever eats it will not die forever, many of the seventy "have departed from Him and have not followed Him."

A disciple who is firm in faith

Was Apostle Barnabas among these apostates? As we see from the further description of the life of the Church, no. He had a keen mind and understood that the Lord is the Word of God. His commandments need to be absorbed in the heart (is) and to fulfill them, in order to have eternal life. When Christ, after many of the seventy apostles left Him, turned to the twelve: "Would you also like to follow their example?" But Peter answered for all: "Where should we go? For You, Lord, have the words of eternal life. " Thus, we see that Barnabas, along with the eleven apostles, remained with Jesus. He was a faithful disciple, although in no Gospel his name is mentioned. The activities of Barnabas as a "harvest worker" in the field of Christ are more fully expounded in the book of the New Testament that follows the Gospels. And what can we know about his life? In the "Acts" there is only a grain of information about this. Let's turn to the Lives of the Saints, although this source can not be trusted completely.

The Apostle Barnabas: biography and deeds

The real name of the ascetic of faith and the companion of St. Paul was Joseph. He was born into a wealthy Jewish family. We can say that he was a noble family: from the tribe of Levi there were also Old Testament prophets - Aaron, Moses, Samuel. Barnabas is considered the uncle (or cousin) of the evangelist Mark. According to other sources, he could also be a relative of Aristovul. But Barnabas was born in Cyprus. His parents left for the island because of military trouble in Palestine. But they had a house near Jerusalem. To the Levite men, the law of Moses prescribed to know the Scriptures. While the boy Joseph was small, the father himself instructed him in faith. And when he became a boy, his parents sent him for further study in Jerusalem, to the famous expert Torah Gamaliel. There the future apostle Barnabas, whose life henceforth completely changed, met Paul (in those days Savl).

Role of Gamaliel

This character is also mentioned in the Acts. You can read about it in chapter 5 of this book. When the twelve apostles preached in Jerusalem, healing the infirm, the Pharisees were angry with them and even thought to kill them. But the meeting took the floor respected by all the teachers of the law Gamaliel. He gave historical examples, when impostors claiming that they are the messengers of God were defeated, and their disciples were scattered. He advised the Pharisees not to plot evil against the apostles. After all, what is conceived by people, of itself will collapse. And if this is the work of God, then nothing and no one can resist it. You will only incur the wrath of the Lord. Such a teacher brought up the apostle Barnabas. About St. Gamaliel as an indisputable authority among the Jews, St. Paul expresses himself. Emphasizing that he himself is not alien to the law of Moses, the Apostle says: "I am a Jew brought up at the feet of Gamaliel, instructed faithfully, a jealous God." Thus, it can be concluded that the apprenticeship of this famous Pharisee prearranged Barnabas for the unblooded adoption of a new teaching.

Coming to Christ

"Lives of the Saints" claim that the future apostle often went to pray in the porch of Solomon's temple. There he witnessed many miracles of healing, which Christ manifested in Jerusalem. After believing, he fell at the feet of the Son of God and asked for permission to follow him as a disciple. And when Christ left Jerusalem and retired to Galilee, Barnabas followed. There he became one of the seventy apostles. He shared the teachings of the Lord and remained faithful to him. According to the testimony of John Chrysostom, Joseph had the gift to convince people, and also to console the mourners. Therefore the apostles gave him another name - Barnabas. It means Son of Solace. And the holy Apostle Barnabas showed his gift of persuasion by persuading the disciples of the Lord in Jerusalem not to fear the former evil persecutor of Christians Saul.

Beginning of missionary work

Neither the Gospels nor the "Acts" mention when and how the former Joseph from Cyprus joined the teachings of Christ. But one thing is certain: he did it earlier than his "schoolmate" Saul. Barnabas was first mentioned in the Acts in the fourth chapter. As expected to the disciple of Christ, he sold his house and land, and put money "at the feet of the apostles". The second time it is mentioned in the Scriptures precisely in connection with Paul, the future pillar of the Church. When he was on his way to Damascus to arrest Christians, Christ appeared to him with the question "Why do you persecute me?". After this, the evil man turned and realized that he had previously been blind. In Damascus, Paul was instructed in the Christian faith by some Ananias. When the Pharisees of the city decided to kill a new convert, he was forced to flee to Jerusalem. But there the disciples of Christ were afraid to receive it, for it was glory as a persecutor of the new faith. And here in Acts Barnabas is again mentioned (9:27). He persuaded his brothers to accept the convert without fear. Since then, the apostle Barnabas and the apostle Paul have become almost inseparable.

Further activities

Both missionaries traveled a lot. They visited Antioch, Asia Minor, Cyprus, Greece. There they founded a huge number of Christian communities. When the famine broke out in Jerusalem, the Antioch believers collected money and sent them with Barnabas and Paul to their distressed brothers. As for this period (around AD 45), the name of Barnabas is mentioned before Paul. The inhabitants of Lystra compared the first apostle to Zeus, and the second to Hermes (Acts 14:12). Barnabas, along with Paul, took part in the cathedrals of the apostles of the 48th and 51st. But after this the apostles parted. Paul began to travel and preach together with his new companion, the Force. They concentrated their missionary work in Asia Minor, Thrace and Hellas. And Barnabas with John, named Mark (his cousin or nephew), went to Cyprus. It is at this event that the story in the Acts about Barnabas ends.

What is known about the future activities

From the "Lives of the Saints" it is known that the apostle became the first bishop of Cyprus. He preached throughout the island and founded many Christian communities. The church tradition claims that he was stoned by pagans in 61 AD. His powers were miraculously "circumcised" in 478 near the city of Salamis, on the eastern tip of the island. At this place in the fifth century the monastery of the apostle Barnabas was founded. Now it is not operational and is a historical and architectural monument. And the relics of the holy Apostle Barnabas are kept in the church of Konkadei-Marini in Italy.

Proceedings

The epistles of the bishop of Cyprus did not enter the Canon. Most likely, they existed, because all the apostles addressed in writing to their believers. The recently found "Sinaitic Code" contains the text attributed to Barnabas. In this Epistle the apostle tries to interpret the Old Testament. He says that this Book is closed for the Jews. The Old Testament can be understood only by those who seek in it the predictions about the coming of Jesus Christ. Apostle Barnabas is also credited with two forged text, composed much later. The book about the wanderings and martyrdom was written in the fifth century, probably to confirm the "Lives of the Saints." And in the Middle Ages the false Gospel of Barnabas was composed. It describes the evangelical events from the point of view of the Muslim religion (then not yet existing).

Icon of the Apostle Barnabas

Despite the fact that this Holy Separated from Paul, there was no discord between them. The apostle speaks very warmly and respectfully of his brother in the First Epistle to the Corinthians (9: 6). And the Letter to the Colossus (4:10) contains one reference to the later joint activities of Barnabas and Paul. An apostle of seventy is honored in both Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches. Orthodox twice a year celebrate the day of Barnabas's memory - January 17 and June 24. In Catholicism this apostle is honored on June 11. In religious painting there are many icons of the apostle Barnabas. A photo of one of them shows us a man a little more advanced years, whose dark hair barely touched the gray hair. Since Barnabas has an apostolic rank, he is dressed in chiton and gimaty, and in his hands holds a scroll. Sometimes the icon painters portray him as the first archbishop of Cyprus. In this case, he is depicted in the relics of the hierarchs.