For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus. 20 And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.” 21 And all who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?” 22 But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ.

23 When many days had passed, the Jews plotted to kill him, 24 but their plot became known to Saul. They were watching the gates day and night in order to kill him, 25 but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket.

26 And when he 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. 27 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. 28 So he went in and out among them at Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord. 29 And he spoke and disputed against the Hellenists. But they were seeking to kill him. 30 And when the brothers learned this, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.

31 So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied. (ESV)

Verse 21 underlines the point that Saul was a transformed man. From the beginning, he began to preach with power, persuasiveness and pluck. The man had courage. For his opponents, the issue wasn’t whether or not he had a point. They just continued to hate the message, and so they set themselves against the messenger, and their preferred weapon was death. (It no doubt didn’t help that this particular ‘leopard’ no longer shared their ‘spots’). The ”suffering” (16) was almost immediate. So was his influence. We note that, from the first, Paul’s missionary strategy was ”to the Jew first”. ‘He probably showed from a comparison between the predictions of the Old Testament and the facts of our Lord’s life, that the key exactly fitted the wards of the ancient lock, and so proved its genuineness.’ F.B. Meyer.

You have to love Barnabas: such an encourager; big-heart; eyes to see what God was doing, and the courage to be in step with it (even if it put him out of step with others). You can, of course, understand the initial reticence and caution of the church that had felt the scorching temperature of this man’s wrath. (We would do well to consider the vital roles played by lesser known characters such as Ananias and Barnabas).

Saul’s conversion, and the events around it, put booster rockets on church growth (31).

PRAYER: Make me a Barnabas Lord. I don’t ask to be great, only to be useful. Give me eyes to see those who need bringing in, and a heart to move towards them.