Last week I asked you to look for the name of the person in the New Testament who was known as the “son of encouragement.” Many of you probably thought of “Barnabas” right away, but that’s not his original name. In fact, most of us don’t know it because his new name has eclipsed it. We only remember him by the characteristic that so well described him!

In Acts 4:36-37 we read, “Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means Son of Encouragement), sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.” He was just another “ordinary Joe”—my apologies to those with that name—whose new name stuck due to his extraordinary demonstration of encouragement.

We know very little about Joseph, aka Barnabas. He was a Levite, which means he came from a priestly lineage. He was from the island of Cyprus, an interesting fact that will feature in a future post. Barnabas was also a first cousin to John Mark, the young man who abandoned Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey. (John Mark, by the way, authored the Gospel of Mark, which might cause us to ask—did Barnabas also encourage this endeavor?)

Acts 11:24a records that Barnabas “was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith.” He must also have been a man of commanding appearance and leadership ability; in Acts 14:12 he is referred to as Zeus/Jupiter, who in ancient mythology was chief of the gods. In any case, Joseph was Barnabas—the son of encouragement—and he further made his mark as an encourager as we will see in future posts.

[QUESTION to ponder: Am I just an “ordinary Joe” that could have an extraordinary effect on others through simple words of encouragement?]