Why did Barnabas go to Tarsus/Cilicia to look for Saul?
Barnabas went to Tarsus/Cilicia because the church at Antioch was showing Gentile interest. Led sovereignly by the Holy Spirit, he sought Saul to bring him back to Antioch, where Gentile Christianity began to flower and believers were first called Christians.
Les explains that when the church at Antioch began to show signs of Gentile interest, Barnabas—led sovereignly by the Holy Spirit—went up to Cilicia, into the area of Tarsus, to look for Saul. Scripture says he looked for him, meaning he had a purpose. When he found Saul, he succeeded by bringing him back to Antioch. There Gentile Christianity began to flower, and it was at Antioch that believers were first called Christians. Les notes the Bible never calls the Jewish believers at Jerusalem Christians; that name first applied among Gentile believers at Antioch.