Now the company of those who
believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things
which he possessed was his own, but they had everything in common. And with
great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord
Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among
them, for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought
the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles' feet; and
distribution was made to each as any had need. Thus Joseph who was surnamed by
the apostles Barnabas (meaning, Son of Encouragement), a Levite, a native of
Cyprus, sold a field which belonged to him, and brought the money and laid it
at the apostles' feet.
In a Nutshell
These followers of Jesus were inspired to live a life that encouraged one another. A true community of God's love had been born.
Questions
Think about this. Barnabas was Mark's uncle. What does this tell us about the relationship between Acts and Mark's Gospel, between Hunches and Hints?
Jesus' disciples were growing in number and in the way they acted together. They began to understand that they had been caught up in a new creation of the Almighty, something the earth had been waiting millennia to see. This was a way of life which proclaimed Jesus as Messiah and Lord. This was a way of life in which believers in the Almighty could live their lives in every detail as members of God's community of love.
There was a sense of urgency. There was a spirit of boldness. This boldness was manifested when Peter and John fronted the Sanhedrin. But it also showed itself in the way these believers, men and women, boys and girls, old and young, could boldly and without reservation offer help and assistance to each other. They had found a way of offering themselves to each other without becoming enslaved to each other, without enslaving others with one's new found freedom.
Jesus' teaching had taken root. This was indeed the "good soil" He spoke about in his parable of the sower. This was the yeast making its impact felt throughout the entire loaf. This was the salt, the sweet smelling savour, that was added to the living sacrifice we offer up to the Almighty in the entirety of our human creaturely existence. In sum, this was a community in which each encouraged the other.
It is almost as an aside that Luke introduces "Uncle Barnabas", a Levite from Cyprus. We know him already as the uncle of Mark, the writer of the gospel. Barnabas' generosity quickly earned him the nick-name of "encourager". Luke is telling us that these things happened in the lives of the earliest followers of Jesus, because the Holy Spirit had prepared the soil in which the good seed could sprout and bring a thirty-fold, sixty-fold or one hundred-fold harvest. But there was more to do. The word still had to be broadcast far and wide.