After Saul escaped death in Damascus it says in Acts 9:26 that he went to Jerusalem. There “he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple.” This was understandable, since many of the believers in Jerusalem had suffered either personally or as a result of loved ones being persecuted under the tyrannical efforts of Saul. They likely thought this was merely a ploy on Saul’s part to get inside information on the followers of Jesus Christ so he could round them up to persecute them.
Barnabas saw things differently. He believed God could change the heart of anyone, even Saul the persecutor. I can just see him contacting Saul and taking him to a café for a cup of tea. Over tea he asked him to share his story. In this disarming way he discovered “how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus” (verse 27).
He was so touched by Saul’s story that he put his arm around his shoulder and brought him to the apostles, persuading them that God had indeed transformed this former persecutor into a fervent preacher of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Barnabas risked his reputation and possibly even his life by meeting with Saul. But because he was willing to do this Saul’s conversion experience and calling were affirmed.
Some time later Barnabas left a flourishing work in Antioch to find Saul in Tarsus and recruited him to join in the work in Antioch. This started a whole new wave of outreach for Christ.
