The first century Roman empire had an omnipresent and ubiquitous practice of patronage. It was practiced from the lowest slave to the highest reaches of the imperial family. The society worked with patrons and clients. The more clients you had, the more influential you were. The more important a patron you had, the better off you were. In a society where everyone had a place, and there was a place for everyone, the system worked. It was the grease that made the society work.
Barnabas, an established member of the Jesus Movement in Jerusalem, took on Paul as a client when he showed up in Jerusalem after the time in the desert. Paul was wildly preaching in the streets with little sense of adroitness or concern for whom he offended. He was rapidly gaining enemies. He also was trying to meet the leaders of the movement, in the Jerusalem Council such as James and Peter.
Barnabas introduced him to the Council. But Paul continued wildly preach, making enemies to the point that a plot was being hatched to kill him. The Council learned of the plot, and not wanting to have a disturbance, decided to get rid of Paul. They sent him down to Caesarea and paid to ship him off to this hometown of Tarsus where he stayed.
Acts 11:19 reports that in the meantime there is explosive growth of believers in Antioch. The council sends Barnabas to the city to bring some order and management. But Barnabas gets there and decides he needs some help. So off he goes to find his client Paul, induces him to come to Antioch and help in the church.
They work together for a “whole year” with Barnabas as the lead or patron, and Paul the client or helper. When the Antioch believers decide to send help to Jerusalem to alleviate the famine, they send Barnabas and Paul, with Barnabas mentioned first as the patron. to take the aid to Jerusalem.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: Barnabas, Antioch, Caesarea, partonage, patron, client
