Acts 4-5 - deceit and hypocrisy
Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means “son of encouragement”), sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.
Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.
Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.”
When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. Then some young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.
About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. Peter asked her, “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?”
“Yes,” she said, “that is the price.”
Peter said to her, “How could you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.”
At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.
Acts 4:32-5:11
Our passage today, which I have set out in full above, is to some terrifying and to others politically or economically uncomfortable. So let's address a few points:
1) Property
Looking at the passage as a whole, it does not suggest that the believers lived in a commune and were sharing all property, giving up all legal and practical ownership. If we just read the first sentence then we could interpret things that way, but then later Peter says to Ananias: Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal?. So it is clear that commune living was not the necessity, but that people raised funds from time to time to help others in need.
And so No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had does not relate to legal ownership, but to attitude towards possessions. My house does not belong to my family alone - it is for sharing with others in hospitality. My income does not belong to me alone - it is to be spent in order to glorify God - partly through a proportion going directly towards the work of the church and those in need.
And isn't this amazing: God worked so powerfully among them that there were no needy persons among them - imagine if the modern church was sufficiently inspired and united that there could be no needy persons among us? This could only have happened due to the attitude of those with something to share, but also because of an attitude across the whole body of believers that they were a family of equals under God - it is only in those circumstances that I can imagine all those in financial difficulties being willing to flag that they needed help.
2) Ananias and Saphira's sin
So, if we have established, Ananias and Saphira's sin was not that they did not give the full price of their property - as Peter said, it was theirs to do with what the liked. No, it was the fact they lied about it.
If we follow the chapter breaks then Ananias and Saphira's story appears to be one on it's own, but actually they are following a pattern of believers who are all selling assets in order to give gift to the church, in order than their fellow believers might be supported. There's a general observation to this fact, followed by the example of Barnabas. Ananias and Saphira are then described as also doing the same thing - with a key difference.
Ananias' lie is not obvious - maybe he lied by omission by following a pattern of others and therefore implying to everyone that he was giving the full price he received for his field. Or maybe he did explicitly state to Peter: 'here is all the money we got for the field'. Either way, it seems that he made it appear that he was giving the full price. When we see Saphira come on the scene, this hypothesis is confirmed: Peter asks her directly if the money they gave was the full price, and she lies and answers "yes".
Rather than coming to worship as they were, Ananias and Saphira want to deceive and make others believe they had a whole-hearted devotion that they did not. They were like the Pharisee in Jesus' parable who came to the temple and stood and prayed 'about himself' (some even say that it could be translated as 'prayed to himself'): Lord, I thank you that I am not like other men. It was not he, but the tax collector, with a past and present full of wrongdoing, who said: Have mercy on me, a sinner, who went home justified by God. (Luke 18:9-14).
3) Why was Ananias and Saphira's sin punished so immediately?
The answer to this question is one of those tricky ones that we'll possibly never feel satisfied with until we see God in his glory and wisdom. We fail to grasp the seriousness of sin and the fact that the punishment is just - anything else is mercy. Why these particular individuals? Commentators often seem to comment that it was important in cementing the authority of the apostles and teaching the new church the seriousness of hypocrisy.
The question, however, should not be about Ananias and Saphira, but us. Are we lying to God and to his body the church? We may think siphoning off funds that are ostensibly for the church might the preserve of some corrupt leaders, but it is the attitude that we need to consider.
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us. (1 John 1:8-10)
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