Luke’s Paraclete

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Luke’s Paraclete

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But the Helper [Paraclete], the Holy Spirit,

whom the Father will send in my name,

he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance

all that I have said to you.

(John 14:26)

By Stephen W. Hiemstra

The Paraclete in John’s Gospel is a messenger, teacher, and memory-jogger. The Paraclete serves as a divine mentor requested by Jesus himself and sent by the Father (John 14:16; 15:26). Luke does not mention the Paraclete in either his Gospel or the Book of Acts, but he introduces us to Joseph of Cyprus whose mentoring played a critically important role in the early church.

Barnabas the Mentor

Joseph of Cyprus, a Levite, is better known to Christians as Barnabas, a nickname given him by the Apostles. In Hebrew, Barnabas literally means son of the prophet, but Luke tells us that it means son of encouragement, a metaphorical inference or gleiche (Acts 4:36).

The nickname was likely given because Joseph made a substantial donation to the early church (Acts 4:37), which no doubt demonstrated serious encouragement. But the second time that Barnabas is mentioned his encouragement takes an entirely different turn:

“And when he [the Apostle Paul] had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples. And they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus.” (Acts 9:26-27)

Bringing Paul to the Apostles took moxy—Paul had previously been a persecutor “ravaging the church” (Acts 8:3) and, out of fear, the Apostles shunned him.

Mentoring Beyond Words

But Barnabas did not stop with introductions—he actively mentored him in ministry. When the Apostles heard that the Antioch Church was growing, they sent Barnabas to investigate. Barnabas worked with the Antioch Church and his ministry helped them grow. But Barnabas saw more potential:

“So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.” (Acts 11:25-26)

Antioch was one of the first century’s most important churches, but more importantly this was where—thanks to Barnabas—Paul learned to be an evangelist. This after previously have been more-or-less exiled by the Apostles to his hometown in Tarsus.

It was in Antioch that Paul received his gentile commission:

“The Holy Spirit said, Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul [Paul] for the work to which I have called them. Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off. (Acts 13:2-3)

Note that the commission is attributed the Holy Spirit and that Barnabas continued his work of mentoring Paul even during his first missionary trip.

Fruit of Mentoring?

Petty, self-serving, and weak leadership is more typical than good mentoring in most organizations, not just the church. Just today I learned of a pastoral colleague and friend who has been taken offline because of an accusation of just one individual. One-strike-you-are-out behavior is an all-too-typical employment practice in our competitive world.

What if Barnabas had just tooted his own horn, ignored Paul’s talents and shunned him like everyone else?

Paul’s evangelism established churches throughout Asia Minor into Greece all the way to Rome. He also personally wrote more than half the books of the New Testament (NT) and likely motivated authors to write most of the other NT books. These accomplished helped form the foundation of the early church. None of them would have been done (or at least would have been delayed) had Barnabas not mentored Paul. This is why it is fair to describe Barnabas as Luke’s Paraclete.

Luke’s Paraclete

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