Barnabas (son of consolation or son of encouragement) is one of the most pastorally substantive minor characters of the book of Acts, the man whose distinctive ministry of encouragement opened critical doors at several decisive moments of the early church’s expansion. His narrative spans several major Acts episodes. First, the introduction. Acts 4:36-37: and Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, The son of consolation,) a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus, Having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles’ feet. The introduction includes both the apostles’ recognition of his distinctive characteristic (they gave him the surname Barnabas, son of consolation, in recognition of his ministry of encouragement) and the demonstration of his sacrificial generosity (selling his property and giving the money to the apostles’ common fund). Second, the receiving of converted-Saul. Acts 9:26-27: when Saul (the recently-converted persecutor) came to Jerusalem and the disciples were afraid of him, but Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that he had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. The encouragement-ministry took the form of accreditation: Barnabas vouched for the suspect new convert, opening the door for Paul’s acceptance into the Jerusalem church. Third, the Antioch mission. Acts 11:22-26: when the news of Gentile conversions reached Jerusalem, the church sent Barnabas to Antioch; he exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord; he went to Tarsus to fetch Saul to assist him; they spent a year together in Antioch teaching the new church. The Antioch ministry became the launching-point for the Gentile mission, with Barnabas as the encouraging-and-coordinating leader who brought Saul into substantive ministerial partnership. Fourth, the first missionary journey. Acts 13-14 records Barnabas and Saul’s commissioning by the Antioch church and their journey through Cyprus and Asia Minor; throughout this period Barnabas is the senior partner (named first), with Paul gradually emerging as the primary preacher. Fifth, the dispute over John Mark. Acts 15:36-41: when Paul proposed a second journey, Barnabas insisted on taking John Mark, who had abandoned them on the first journey; Paul refused; the contention was so sharp between them, that they departed asunder one from the other. The narrative is sober but instructive: Barnabas’s encouragement-ministry extended even to the man who had failed; he took John Mark and continued in ministry, with the Mark who later wrote the Gospel of Mark and became profitable to me for the ministry as Paul himself later acknowledged (2 Tim 4:11). The Barnabas-doctrine therefore organizes one of the most pastorally substantive minor-character narratives of the NT: the encouragement-ministry that opens critical doors (Paul’s acceptance, Antioch’s growth, the Gentile mission), that takes the costly sacrificial form (selling property, vouching for the suspect, taking the risk on the failed), and that produces fruit even where the encouraged seemed unpromising (Paul becomes the apostle to the Gentiles; John Mark becomes the gospel-writer).