Acts 9:20-31; 11:19-26 · Read 10 min · think and write 15 min
In the last lesson, Saul was baptized in Damascus, and “Saul stayed several days with the disciples who were at Damascus” (Acts 9:19).
This lesson brings in a new person: Barnabas. He first appears in Acts 4: “Joses, who by the apostles was also called Barnabas (which is, being interpreted, Son of Encouragement), a Levite, a man of Cyprus by race” (Acts 4:36).
This lesson reads two passages: first Saul in Jerusalem, where no one dared come near him (Acts 9); then Barnabas going to Tarsus to look for him (Acts 11).
20Immediately in the synagogues he proclaimed the Christ, that he is the Son of God.
21All who heard him were amazed, and said, “Isn’t this he who in Jerusalem made havoc of those who called on this name? And he had come here intending to bring them bound before the chief priests!”
22But Saul increased more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived at Damascus, proving that this is the Christ.
23When many days were fulfilled, the Jews conspired together to kill him,
24but their plot became known to Saul. They watched the gates both day and night that they might kill him,
25but his disciples took him by night and let him down through the wall, lowering him in a basket.
26When Saul had come to Jerusalem, he tried to join himself to the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple.
27But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles, and declared to them how he had seen the Lord on the way, and that he had spoken to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus.
28He was with them entering into Jerusalem,
29preaching boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus. He spoke and disputed against the Hellenists, but they were seeking to kill him.
30When the brothers knew it, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.
31So the assemblies throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were built up. They were multiplied, walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit.
Proclaiming Jesus in the synagogues. After his baptism, “Immediately in the synagogues he proclaimed the Christ, that he is the Son of God” (v. 20). Those who heard him were amazed: “Isn’t this he who in Jerusalem made havoc of those who called on this name?” (v. 21). People remembered what he used to do.
Lowered through the wall. After many days, “the Jews conspired together to kill him” (v. 23). They watched the gates day and night, “but his disciples took him by night and let him down through the wall, lowering him in a basket” (v. 25). He came to Damascus carrying letters for binding people; he left sitting in a basket, let down through the wall by disciples.
They were all afraid of him. In Jerusalem, Saul “tried to join himself to the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple” (v. 26). Their fear is easy to understand: “entering into every house and dragged both men and women off to prison” (Acts 8:3) had happened not long before. The passage records that the disciples were afraid of him; it does not rebuke them.
But Barnabas. “But Barnabas took him” (v. 27). Set against “they were all afraid of him” (v. 26), that word ‘But’ stands out. The passage names what Barnabas did: he took him; he “brought him to the apostles”; and he “declared to them how he had seen the Lord on the way, and that he had spoken to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus” (v. 27). When no one believed Saul, Barnabas spoke up for him.
The brothers sent him away. “He was with them entering into Jerusalem” (v. 28). Then again “they were seeking to kill him” (v. 29), and “When the brothers knew it, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus” (v. 30). The disciples who had been afraid of him are now called ‘the brothers,’ and they are the ones who got him to safety.
Going to Tarsus to look for Saul. Some time later — the passage does not say how long — many people in Antioch came to believe. The assembly in Jerusalem “sent out Barnabas to go as far as Antioch” (Acts 11:22). When he came and “had seen the grace of God, was glad. He exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they should remain near to the Lord” (Acts 11:23). The passage describes him this way: “For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith” (Acts 11:24). Then “Barnabas went out to Tarsus to look for Saul. When he had found him, he brought him to Antioch” (Acts 11:25–26).
A whole year. “For a whole year they were gathered together with the assembly, and taught many people. The disciples were first called Christians in Antioch” (Acts 11:26). In Jerusalem it was Barnabas who took Saul in; after Saul was sent back to Tarsus, the one who went to bring him back was Barnabas again.
Later, in his letter to the assemblies of Galatia, Paul mentioned how the assemblies in Judea regarded him at the time: “but they only heard, ‘He who once persecuted us now preaches the faith that he once tried to destroy.’ So they glorified God in me” (Gal 1:23–24).
These are Paul’s own words, from one of his letters. They let the reader know that the disciples were afraid of him at first because he really had persecuted the assembly — and that when the assemblies later gave glory because of him, the glory went to God.
Perhaps you too have known what it is not to be believed: you changed, but people still remembered who you used to be. Or perhaps you are the one who holds back and does not dare go near someone.
This lesson does not say the disciples were wrong to be afraid, and it does not say others had to believe Saul right away. What it lets you see is this: when everyone else was afraid, one person was willing to cross the room — to take him, bring him to others, and tell his story for him; and some time later, to go and bring him back himself. Barnabas’s name means ‘Son of Encouragement’ (Acts 4:36). Paul later wrote, “Therefore accept one another, even as Christ also accepted you, to the glory of God” (Rom 15:7).
This week: Think of someone around you who is rather alone, or whom people are wary of approaching. Go to them once this week on your own initiative — make a call, send a message, or sit down beside them and talk for a while.
Scripture: World English Bible.