Barnabas, of course, was a major figure among the Jewish Christians. He was originally Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, and was renamed by the apostles (Acts 4:36). Later, when the disciples were suspicious of Paul's conversion, he was the one who broke the barrier for Paul and introduced him to the apostles (Acts 9:27). The two remained partners in ministry among the Gentiles until they separated because of a dispute over Mark, who had deserted them earlier (Acts 15:36-41).

"Son of Encouragement" that he was (Acts 4:36), he treated Mark out of the same disposition that moved him to reach out to Paul in the first place, and this later proved to be a worthwhile investment (Colossians 4:10-11), as Mark became "helpful" even to Paul in the ministry (2 Timothy 4:11), and wrote one of the Gospels. In any case, it was natural and beneficial that Barnabas and Paul traveled together here in Galatians 2. To have Barnabas on his side, and working not only together with him but also with the Greek convert Titus, could only have helped Paul's credibility before Jerusalem.

Titus had a greater significance than a superficial reading of verses 3-5 might detect. Paul was to set forth his gospel before Jerusalem, so he knew that his ministry would come under scrutiny. He realized that many Jews denied that God would bless any group of people other than the natural descendents of Abraham, so that if the Gentiles were to receive salvation, the least that they could do was to undergo circumcision, to come under the law, and thus to identify themselves with the Jewish people. And no doubt he was aware that even some of those who claimed to be Christians thought this way.

Therefore, Paul must have known that if he was going to bring along a Gentile Christian as a test case or to demonstrate the fruit of his ministry, he had better bring the best specimen. In fact, even if he did not intend to make a test case out of him, if he was going to bring a Gentile Christian at all, he still had to bring the best. At stake was nothing less than the effectiveness of the past and future efforts of his ministry (v. 2). Of course, as it turned out, Titus did become a test case for Paul's work among the Gentiles (v. 3-5). He embodied the truth, power, and success of Paul's message and ministry; he was a walking contradiction to the Judaizers' doctrine.

So because they were to face Jewish Christians, many of whom harbored a prejudice against the Gentiles that was against the gospel, we assume that Paul brought the very best Gentile Christian with him when he chose Titus. Paul's gospel and ministry would not have been the only items placed under scrutiny, but Titus himself would have undergone tremendous pressure. Paul's courage and conviction certainly made the difference, but if Titus himself was weak and fearful, we doubt that he would have been chosen to face this potentially explosive and even dangerous situation.

Paul might have avoided bringing a Gentile in the first place, but he decided to take one along, and he knew that any person he brought could have become a test case for his message and ministry, as Titus in fact did, and so become a decisive factor in forming Jerusalem's opinion toward him. Thus from this passage alone we can infer that, in terms of the knowledge of God, purity of the heart, and strength of character, Titus was probably unparalleled among Gentile believers.

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