By James Riley Strange, Ph.D.
Professor of New Testament, Samford University
Encourage
Acts 9:26–28; 11:21–26
This is our second lesson in a series about six traits that can heal and strengthen relationships between Christians. Last week, we began with the quality from which all others grow: love. We learned love is measured in actions more than in the intensity of emotion. Today we talk about one such loving action: encouragement. It is an underrated virtue.
In the passages we read today, we will see the effects of encouragement during the early decades of the church. In spite of hostile reactions from many in those days, the gospel spread from Jerusalem into the Roman world and beyond its borders. As we shall see, one trait that drove that success was encouragement.
We meet “Barnabas,” a Cypriot Jew named Joseph, in Acts 4:36–37 when he sells a plot of land and donates the money to the apostles. We are told the apostles nickname him “Son of Encouragement” or “Son of Exhortation.” This is a paraphrase of the probable meaning, “Son of a Prophet” (Aramaic: bar=“son of;” nebi=“prophet,” a person who speaks for God). “Son of” denotes one who possesses the trait that follows.
Encourage acceptance. (9:26–28)
Read 9:1–31 for context. Barnabas puts all of these meanings into practice when he encourages the Jerusalem disciples to accept Saul as a fellow believer. They don’t trust Saul, despite the reports of his experience of the risen Lord and despite the attempt on his life in Damascus. We don’t know why Barnabas is convinced of Saul’s authenticity. We do know, however, that Barnabas is acting like Jesus, who persuaded Ananias to help the blinded Paul in verses 15 and 16. Barnabas is willing to take a risk and, on his own, confirm what God has done in Saul’s life.
For his part, as he did in Damascus, Saul preaches boldly in Jerusalem. The disciples send him to his hometown of Tarsus when his life is threatened again.
Encourage growth. (11:21–24)
Begin reading at 11:1. The church in Jerusalem sends Barnabas north to Antioch, maybe because, like some who are successfully preaching there, he too is from Cyprus. In verse 23, as his nickname suggests, Barnabas “encouraged” or “exhorted” those in Antioch to faithfully proclaim the Lord Jesus, despite the possibility of persecution. As a result, “a great many people were brought to the Lord.”
Notice that Barnabas is described as “a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith.” Like many in the Book of Acts, he does not do God’s work only because of innate traits. He submits his will to the leading of the Holy Spirit.
Encourage service. (11:25–26)
Having spoken on Saul’s behalf in Jerusalem, Barnabas now collects Saul from Tarsus and brings him to Antioch, where the two disciples work for a year. One could argue that Barnabas’ faithful encouragement is one of the reasons that Antioch became a hub of the Pauline mission.
According to Acts, Saul and Barnabas first travel from Antioch south to Judea, to deliver a monetary offering to believers suffering during a famine (27–30). Under the direction of the Holy Spirit, the first missionary journey also launches from Antioch (13:1–3) as do the second and third (15:3–41; 18:22–23).
Like love, encouragement/exhortation comes from God, and God multiplies its effects. Hence, it is not up to those who seem to have the gift of encouragement to do all the encouraging. As the world deals with COVID-19, can you think of a person or a ministry that needs your encouragement? Do not hesitate to encourage by word or by gift. As this Son of Encouragement did so long ago, let us submit to the Holy Spirit’s guidance. Let us, likewise, pray for those whom we encourage.
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