Apostolic Age (1st century)
Feast: June 11
When every Christian in Jerusalem was terrified of the newly converted Paul, one man vouched for him. Without Barnabas, we might not have Paul's letters.
His real name was Joseph, but the apostles called him Barnabas — 'Son of Encouragement' — and it stuck because that's exactly what he was. Early on, he sold a field and laid the money at the apostles' feet, no strings attached. But his biggest gift wasn't financial. When Saul of Tarsus showed up in Jerusalem claiming to be a convert, everyone was terrified. This was the man who had been arresting Christians. The apostles wouldn't meet with him. Barnabas took the risk. He brought Saul to Peter and James, vouched for his conversion, and changed the course of Church history. Later, Barnabas and Paul traveled together on the first missionary journey — Cyprus, Antioch, the rough interior of Asia Minor. They preached, got stoned (literally, at Lystra), and planted churches across the Roman world. Then they had a sharp disagreement about whether to bring John Mark on their next trip. Paul said no; Barnabas said yes. They split up. Barnabas took Mark and sailed to Cyprus. Paul later admitted Mark was useful — which means Barnabas had been right about him too. Tradition says Barnabas was martyred in Salamis, stoned by a synagogue mob. He spent his life seeing potential in people everyone else had written off.