Today we celebrate the feast of St. Barnabas. Not much has been recorded about the life of Barnabas, but what scant information we are given is enough to let us know that he was one amazing man. In fact, out of all the gifts with which each of the apostles were endowed, Barnabas’ gift was so unique—and rare—that it’s a wonder he is not more of a household name. And it is a shame, because we could learn a lot from Barnabas and the fruit of his labor that sprung forth from the gift that he was given.
So what unique gift did God give him? Barnabas was given the gift of defense. Now if we are scratching our heads wondering where that is listed among the gifts of the Holy Spirit, we will not find it. “Defense” isn’t named in either the Bible or the Catechism because the Spirit does not send us out to be attorneys. However, He does call us to be advocates. This is what Barnabas lived and breathed once he became a follower of Christ. He advocated for what was right and true. He came to the defense of the rejected who sought to serve the Lord:
When [Saul] arrived in Jerusalem he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple. Then Barnabas took charge of him and brought him to the apostles . . . (Acts 9:26-27)
Barnabas was the first to come to Paul’s defense, thus opening the door to his acceptance by the other apostles. Without Barnabas, Paul’s mission could have stalled, or been snuffed out altogether. Barnabas, of course, had no way of knowing the grandeur of the plan that the Lord had in mind for Paul—that he would one day become the “Apostle to the Gentiles”—but without Barnabas, Paul’s monumental mission may never have taken root. Paul was indeed the one to set in motion the universal scope of the Church, but that universality hinged on the apostolic work of Barnabas, he who was “filled with the Holy Spirit and faith.”
The news about them reached the ears of the Church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to go to Antioch.
The next time Scripture mentions Barnabas, the Greeks (that is, the Gentiles) are being preached to in Antioch about the Messiah for the first time in salvation history, and a “great number” of them are now “turn[ing] to the Lord.” The Apostles in Jerusalem must have been absolutely stunned. On the one hand, to have the followers of Christ increase in such large numbers, and so quickly, must have been astonishing! But on the other hand . . . was it contrary to the law of Moses to accept anyone outside of the “chosen race”?
They would need to send someone with utmost trustworthy discernment to find out if the movement in Antioch was of the Lord. Who would they send? Perhaps Peter, the “Rock” upon whom their Church had been built? Or perhaps John—the “disciple whom the Lord loved”? Both would have been great choices. And yet, neither is chosen to look into what is going on in Antioch. In fact, none of the Twelve is chosen.
This had to be the single most important decision that the early Church would have had to make to this point in time—whether or not to extend the Good News beyond the scope of the Jews—and they choose Barnabas to figure it out. Barnabas, whose sole accomplishment recorded in Scripture to this point was to stand up for Saul. The reality is, though, this “sole” accomplishment was enough to make him the perfect man for the job. Barnabas could see when no one else could—not even Peter, the leader of Christ’s Church. Not even John, “the one whom Jesus loved” (Jn. 13:23).
With that as our backdrop, let’s look at the last mention of Barnabas in Holy Scripture:
Barnabas wanted to take with them also John, who was called Mark, but Paul insisted that they should not take with them someone who had deserted them . . . So sharp was their disagreement that they separated. (Acts 15:37-39)
This must be one of the saddest passages in all the Book of Acts. Sadder than the dispersal in Jerusalem; sadder even than the accounts of persecution and martyrdom suffered by the disciples of Christ. Nothing could possibly break Our Lord’s heart more than division in His own Church, among His own children.
Paul and Barnabas part ways, and we might assume that Barnabas, the one with the gift to see when others could not, the one to advocate for those in the service of the Lord who would otherwise be rejected, was on the side of right. It is entirely possible that Paul was holding onto a rather uncharitable grudge over John Mark’s desertion of them. So how did the disagreement between Paul and Barnabas turn so “sharp”? We can imagine that Barnabas would have called Paul out for his hypocrisy in rejecting Barnabas’ defense of John Mark, when he himself had been so vehemently defended by Barnabas not long ago. Paul himself had been given a second chance, not only by the Lord, but also by the Apostles—and now he was not willing to extend the same mercy to John Mark.
Eventually, of course, Barnabas and Paul are reconciled, and Paul welcomes John Mark back into the fold. Perhaps as Paul left Barnabas in explosive anger that day, he would later have had time to think, as he walked alone with the Lord and reviewed the events that had taken place. Perhaps he would have realized, now that his emotions had simmered down: “Barnabas was right. I am a hypocrite.” Perhaps he would have recognized that his temper had once again overcome him, and with a sorrowful and contrite heart, perhaps it would have been this “thorn” about which he would later lament, “Three times I begged the Lord . . . that it might leave me” (2 Cor. 12:8). In any event, we can imagine that his welcome back of John Mark would have begun with the words, “I’m sorry, my brother.” And John Mark would have responded, “I’m sorry too.”
As sad as that day must have been when Paul and Barnabas sharply disagreed and separated over their differences, let’s realize that God indeed “worked all things for good” (Rom. 8:28). He gave them the opportunity to not just preach mercy, but to practice it too. He gave them the gift of being a good example to others, and the gift of understanding just how hard extending mercy is, that they might never judge others who struggle with it too. Certainly, the experience would have humbled them both, and it was precisely that humility that would have made them so lovable and relatable and would have opened the hearts of others, that they might be drawn to their words with ears to hear.
Author’s Note: M.C. Holbrook is the author of the book series, The Safe Haven: Scriptural Reflections for the Heart and Home and 26 Steps with the Holy Spirit. To purchase, visit Amazon or The Catholic Company, where all other volumes currently in print are also available.
Image from The Met
