Joseph Barsabbas
In the Acts of the Apostles, Joseph Barsabbas was one of two candidates qualified to be chosen for the office of apostle after Judas Iscariot lost his apostleship when he betrayed Jesus and died by suicide. After the casting of lots Barsabbas was not chosen, the lot instead favoring St. Matthias to be numbered with the remaining eleven apostles.
The English proper noun Justus shares the same origin than ancient Greek Ioustos (with the capital letter); Saint Joseph, the father of Jesus, was named the "righteous" in Matthew 1:19, an English translation of the Greek honorific title dikaios, which occurs frequently in the Gospels.
Both Joseph and Matthias had been followers of Jesus from the beginning of Jesus' public ministry after the baptism that he received from John the Baptist. He had continued as a member of the larger company of disciples even to the time that Jesus was taken up from them.
In the Martyrology
- July 20 Blessed Joseph Barsabbas, apostle