Barnabas is key in the missionary work of the Spirit (Acts 11) video discussion

The first Sunday after Trinity (or Pentecost 2) is also the feast of St Barnabas, who was responsible for receiving, encouraging, and working with the apostle Saul/Paul. In Acts 11 he performs a vital role in encouraging the believers in Antioch and advocating for them to the leadership of the church in Jerusalem.

Join James and Ian as they discuss the passage set in Acts 11.19–30 and reflect on this decisive incident in the life of the growing Jesus movement.

(Full text discussion of the passage follows in the next post.)


DON'T MISS OUT!
Signup to get email updates of new posts
We promise not to spam you. Unsubscribe at any time.
Invalid email address

If you enjoyed this, do share it on social media (Facebook or Twitter) using the buttons on the left. Follow me on Twitter @psephizo. Like my page on Facebook.


Much of my work is done on a freelance basis. If you have valued this post, you can make a single or repeat donation through PayPal:

For other ways to support this ministry, visit my Support page.


Comments policy: Do engage with the subject. Please don't turn this into a private discussion board. Do challenge others in the debate; please don't attack them personally. I no longer allow anonymous comments; if there are very good reasons, you may publish under a pseudonym; otherwise please include your full name, both first and surnames.

15 thoughts on “Barnabas is key in the missionary work of the Spirit (Acts 11) video discussion”

  1. Brother Barnabas and brother Paul remind me, somewhat, of the soccer managerial duo Peter Taylor and Brian Clough OBE.

    They were a great team, with great success, but it all, apparently, ended in less than idea circumstances (cf. Acts 15:36-39).

    Thank God for Paul and Barnabas (and for Peter and Brian).

    Reply
  2. What a strange analogy [Peter and Brian?] they became implacable foes.Whereas Barnabas and John Mark & Paul did not become so, read futher on in Acts.
    Following the Great Commission I think John Mark & Barnabas are excelent role models for Decipleship at a foundational level.
    Can anyone else here build on their foundation with regards to the development of decipleship?

    Reply
    • Hi, Alan;

      Yes, its not a perfect analogy. However, St. Paul loved his sporting analogies as well, didn’t he, Alan ?

      The Brian Clough-Peter Taylor partnership ended when Peter wanted to retire from football management, but a few months later Peter was back in management at Derby County F.C.. Six months after that, Peter secretly signed Brian’s favourite star player, John Robertson. The subsequent animosity mainly came from Brian, not Peter. Brian vowed never to speak to Peter again, but when Peter passed away a few years later, Brian was devastated. A repentant Brian afterwards said on television :

      ” If you’ve got a feud with anybody, try and get it patched up. Swallow your pride and hold out an olive branch”.

      Moving on now, swiftly and seamlessly, to the Paul-Barnabas dispute in Acts 15:39. Paul, no doubt, didn’t hold any animosity against Mark at the time (Acts 15:36-39), but Paul obviously didn’t think Mark then, was the right man for the job.

      Barnabas is not mentioned again in Acts, after the Acts 15:39 incident, which is thought to have occurred circa 49-50 A.D. . Barnabas however, is mentioned in the Galatians Epistle (Gal. 2:1-13), when he and Paul visited Jerusalem circa 48 A.D.. Barnabas is mentioned once more in 1 Corinthians 9:6. Paul first visited Corinth circa 50 A.D., and stayed there for eighteen months. It is thought that during those eighteen months in Corinth, Barnabas paid a visit to Paul – so presumably, everything was patched up !

      Praise God for Paul, and all his co-workers.

      Reply
  3. Pellegrino Brian was not repentant,he was remorseful, as you report it.
    A big foundation stone of entering the Kingdom of God is the requirement to Repent, which was my secondary point .
    Your reply would indicate that you do not understand the differance between Repentance and remorse; all which leads me to believe that you have never repented of your sin. I pray that God will grant you repentance for your perversions. May God have mercy on you.

    Reply
    • I love the apostle Paul, Alan.

      I like it when Paul wonderfully writes from Ephesus to the Corinthians :

      ” When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly.”

      That Mr. Brian Clough OBE underwent a change of mind for the better (Gk. metanoeo) as regards his feuding with people (as described above), was evident, as Brian’s character mellowed in his later life. This is not to proclaim that Brian was a Christian, but only to say that he repented (i.e. had a change of mind for the better) regarding his former fault of feuding.

      The exact beliefs and any faith of Brian Clough, at the time of his passing way, would be known only to our Father God, and His Son, Messiah Jesus. In the meantime, as the apostle Paul said :

      ” I care little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord Who judges me. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time, until the Lord comes.”

      (1 Cor. 4:3-5a)

      God bless you, Alan. Have a good day.

      Reply
  4. “Acts” by Willie James Jennings is available from Blackwells and World of Books.
    I delayed posting this for an obvious selfish reason…

    Reply
  5. Pellegrino
    June 6, 2023 at 12:21 pm

    Pellegrino, Pellegrino what is all this drama and polishing of martyr complex?
    Who is judging you? Again I perceive that you do not understand the meaning of judgement.
    [ I must say I preferred your earlier post and my response to you which bizarrely has disappeared into the ether. ]
    However, as you reference St. Paul and his use of the word Judgement. Consider
    1 Cor 10:15 G2919
    I speak as to wise men; judge ye what I say.
    1 Cor 14:29 G1252
    Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge.
    1 Cor 6:2 G2919
    Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
    I do not Judge you, I simply judge what you say.
    As mentioned in the earlier post, now redacted. My prayer for you constantly is that God might grant you repentance, who knows if “this night your soul may be required of you”
    God does not always delay judgment until the Day of Judgement. Consider the Holy Scriptures, God does not always strive with man but visits man with sudden judgement.
    As for Brian Clough he delayed his repentance and was left only with remorse which is not repentance. Yet again I surmise that you do not understand repentance.
    In the now redacted posts between us you state that you
    “ care not what a person believes only about how people behave” [ as Christians] which is a classic Unitarian response, which see at
    https://altrinchamunitarians.org.uk/about-the-unitarian-church/fast facts
    I would be interested to know what you deem “good Christian behaviour” to be?.
    Especially with reference to your own behaviour on these threads.
    Still praying for you.

    Reply
  6. Dear Alan;

    For some unusual reason you seem determined to provoke a feud, via your latest batch of false accusations serious misquotation, and apparent misinformation regarding the semantics of koine Greek.

    Everything I say is usually heavily backed up by Scripture. If you have an issue with the Scriptures, or with my arguments based upon the Scriptures, then I am always open to discussion and criticism, provided that it is biblically based and conducted in a Christ-like spirit, and with a concern that truth should prevail.

    Reply
  7. Pellagrino
    A non specific answere I am afraid, as usual.
    Meanwhile what is a ” Christlike spirit”?
    I am sure that true will prevail.

    Reply
    • If you can’t abide by the rules, Alan, the referee may have to give you a yellow card.

      By the way, koine Greek : ‘monon’ (via ‘monos’) – any ideas ?

      Reply
  8. I think, in the context of Barnabas the ‘Encourager’, it would be great if we tried to show grace to one another, to encourage others to turn to the gospel too. Thank you Ian and James, for another fascinating study, and the way Antioch was like a bridgehead because of its size and location and racial/cultural diversity. I note a nod to the way the ‘home’ church of the movement had to handle the spread of the gospel elsewhere, and a little comparison (if I’ve heard this right) between the ‘home’ of Anglicanism in Canterbury, and the way Anglicanism itself needs to be understood in terms of an expanding fellowship of believers overseas. Not sure if I heard that right. The other thing I appreciated was the sense of continuity through Luke and Acts, pre-figured by the way Jesus seemed implicitly outward-looking, both through references (eg the ‘Good Samaritan) and in encounters along the margins (James’s ‘liminal spaces’) with people beyond the religious centre in Jerusalem. Luke’s narratives seem quite pivotal in the Bible in terms of God’s progressive revelation through history, and the Bible.

    Reply
    • Good post, Susannah, but one general point concerning the phrase :

      “God’s progressive revelation through history, AND in the Bible.” (emphasis added)

      How can we be sure that what some people call “God’s progressive revelation” is not in reality, “Human retrogression to the social norms of pre-Christian paganism” ?

      God bless you.

      Reply
      • Hi Pellegrino, I was talking in the context of Luke’s narratives specifically, and how they seem like quite a pivotal point between what has gone before, and what now follows after Pentecost.

        I was talking about the interface of history and the Bible, and how the narrative about God unfolded… through the encounters and narratives of the Old Testament, and the way that understanding developed in a kind of progression into the life of Jesus, and then into the life in the Spirit after Pentecost.

        The Gospel of Luke and Acts seem fascinating in the way they straddle key progressions in the meta-narrative of faith.

        I was not referencing other theories of progressive revelation beyond the Bible times, which is an area of contention. I was just alluding to the place of Luke’s writing in the progression of the over-arching Bible narrative.

        Best wishes and may God bless you too.

        Reply
        • Thanks, dear Susannah;

          Good to see you, back. I’ve missed you.

          You make some more excellent points, again.

          I love Doctor Luke. Nearly thirty percent of the New Testament comes from Luke. He must have been a very clever guy, but he had a very lucid theology – which is ideal for country bumpkins like me.

          God bless you, dear Susannah. Have a good day. 🙂

          Reply
  9. Pellegrino on
    June 7, 2023 at 2:21 am

    However let us return from the diversions to Barnabas.
    As I mentioned earlier I think Barnabas gives us a foundational example of a deciple, indeed he was
    quite “Christ like” He sold everything [He emptied himself] He preached the Gospel [Repent]
    He encouraged the fledgling preachers of the Gospel [taught his deciples]
    He returned to his own country a very gracious man,[ meek and mild.]
    BUT someone showed him a Red Card!! And he was crucified!!
    Why? WHO? Did he upset the “theologians”? or forget the Vox Populai [Er..koine].Or was it the Arianesk Pharisees or the Concision, Perhaps he mentioned the word of Jesus?

    John 8:41–47

    . 43 Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word
    . 44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires.
    He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies
    . 45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. 46 Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? 47 Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”
    Read in Context:
    I am very much with Ian, we are both “Ukrainians”
    Ian is trying to herd the cats back onto the proscribed narrow way.
    . We are both more than Apologists i.e. defending our ground: we fight to reclaim the lost ground that belongs to the Kingdom of God against pernicious people who have crept in among us ,of whom, with Paul, against those who preach another Gospel and we wish that they may be Anathema.

    Ps 18:26 With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward
    Prov 8:8 All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing froward or perverse in them.

    Reply

Leave a comment