Ananias and Sapphira
1Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. 2With 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.
3Then 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? 4Didn'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 to men but to God."
5When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. 6Then the young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.
7About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8Peter asked her, "Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?"
"Yes," she said, "that is the price."
9Peter said to her, "How could you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also."
10At 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. 11Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.
The Apostles Heal Many
12The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon's Colonnade. 13No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. 14Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number. 15As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter's shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. 16Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by evil spirits, and all of them were healed.
The Apostles Persecuted
17Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. 18They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. 19But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. 20"Go, stand in the temple courts," he said, "and tell the people the full message of this new life."
21At daybreak they entered the temple courts, as they had been told, and began to teach the people.
When the high priest and his associates arrived, they called together the Sanhedrin—the full assembly of the elders of Israel—and sent to the jail for the apostles. 22But on arriving at the jail, the officers did not find them there. So they went back and reported, 23"We found the jail securely locked, with the guards standing at the doors; but when we opened them, we found no one inside." 24On hearing this report, the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests were puzzled, wondering what would come of this.
25Then someone came and said, "Look! The men you put in jail are standing in the temple courts teaching the people." 26At that, the captain went with his officers and brought the apostles. They did not use force, because they feared that the people would stone them.
27Having brought the apostles, they made them appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest. 28"We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name," he said. "Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man's blood."
29Peter and the other apostles replied: "We must obey God rather than men! 30The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead—whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. 31God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. 32We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him."
33When they heard this, they were furious and wanted to put them to death. 34But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, who was honored by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered that the men be put outside for a little while. 35Then he addressed them: "Men of Israel, consider carefully what you intend to do to these men. 36Some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men rallied to him. He was killed, all his followers were dispersed, and it all came to nothing. 37After him, Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the census and led a band of people in revolt. He too was killed, and all his followers were scattered. 38Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. 39But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God."
40His speech persuaded them. They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.
41The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. 42Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.
Interesting points of Discussion:
- [See v.1] 'a man named Ananias, together with this wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property'- recall that at the end of Acts 4 a man named Barnabas sold a field and brought the money to the apostles; Ananias and Sapphira saw how respected Barnabas was for his generosity and wanted the same respect for themselves
- [See v.2] 'kept back part of the money for himself'- Ananias, with his wife right by his side watching and aware of what he was doing, stores away part of the sale proceeds and gives back the rest to the apostles; this wasn't just Ananias acting alone, both him and his wife had clearly conceived this plan together
- In an attempt to deceive the apostles that he and his wife were real generous people who were sharing their wealth for the good of the people, they lie to the apostles that the money that they laid at their feet was the full amount from the sale of the land
- Their sin was rooted in pride desiring a good reputation in the community and also coveting wealth- the love of money
- [See v.4] 'Didn't it belong to you...wasn't the money at your disposal?'- the apostles didn't care about how much Ananias had kept for himself, he could have kept even all the proceeds for himself if he wanted to because he was the owner and was free to do whatever he wanted with the money
- But what the apostles did care about was that Ananias deliberately 'lied to the Holy Spirit' [v.3] and consequently he had 'not lied to men but to God' [v.4] since the Holy Spirit is God; the implication here is that when you lie to God's people, the church, you are lying to God because God and the church are intertwined with the Holy Spirit dwelling in the church
- [See v.3] 'Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied'- Through the Holy Spirit Peter receives supernatural knowledge of what Ananias has done; surely Ananias was fully expecting to be praised and instead he is rebuked by God through Peter
- Instead of trusting God and receiving the gift of faith through the Holy Spirit, Ananias and Sapphira believed that they could serve both God and man- and in so doing fell victim to Satan's lies
- What began as a "little white lie" conspired between the two of them end up being much bigger than that- matters concerning Satan and the Holy Spirit of God in the holy order of God's church
- Rejecting the Holy Spirit and closing your eyes and ears to God's commands leads to a complete breakdown of the armor of God and the belt of truth suddenly comes apart, allowing the enemy to slip in uninvited like a thief in the night looking to steal, kill and destroy- in this case trying to hinder the progress of the church with greed and corruption
- [See v.5] 'he fell down and died'- God strikes Ananias dead for his sin
- Ananias' death could have possibly been caused by a heart attack; living in a time and among people who really believed that there was a God to answer to, having his sin exposed and having to be accountable in front of the Lord probably frightened him so much that he died of fear
- 'great fear seized all who heard'- this sign and wonder performed by God has the crowd terrified rather than amazed and awed; we must fear God and acknowledge his supremacy
- If we believe in man's supremacy and have no fear of God, we take the attitude of "How dare God not employ His powers on behalf of man" when it really should be "How dare I steal his air"; the truth is He could strike us down at any moment just as He did to Ananias and his wife
- [See v.8] 'is this the price you and Ananias got'- Peter asks Ananias' wife to see if she will tell the truth but she gives the same answer that Ananias gave earlier concerning the final sale amount of the land
- [See v.9] 'How could you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord'- Peter exposes their sin which is two-fold in that first they didn't trust God's promises to provide for them and second they did not obey God's commandments by lying
- God tests us to see if we will obey Him- disobedience is equal to testing the Lord; do we trust God that He will provide for us and wait for His timing?
- [See v.10] 'she fell down at his feet and died'- God strikes Ananias' wife dead for her sin; she had clearly conspired with Ananias and had known everything that was going to happen and just went along with it pretending to be an innocent bystander
- Ananias and Sapphira looked to provide security for themselves on their own and acted according to their own interests- to the flesh- which was used by Satan to influence them to sin which ultimately led to their deaths
- The physical death was important in seeing how God sees certain sins as worse than others and accomplishing His purpose of causing man to fear Him; yet just as important was the outcome of the sins- death- for when we sin it leads to death, as much spiritual as it was physical here in this context
- Is God's punishment of death too harsh?
- It is a greater wonder when you consider why God hasn't struck any of us down for our sins as He delays His righteous judgment in most other cases
- God takes the sin of lying serious enough to pronounce a death sentence upon it; the sins of greed and pride was actually the lesser of the sins that Ananias and his wife committed
- Today, people get really serious about sins involving money but when it comes to a "little white lie" here and there, it's almost expected; it's important to see how God's values are different from ours if we want to live up to His standards
- Why would God take the sin of lying so seriously?
- Because the church was founded upon the truth, grows because of the truth and maintains its unity through the truth; the art of deception is an attack employed by the enemy, Satan, the liar and deceiver, against the truth which would destroy the very heart of the church and its foundations
- And with the church at its very early roots, there couldn't be any impurity or sin to corrupt the very means by which the church grew; the church could not be pure if there were members of the body of Christ serving Satan and not God
- This is a serious reminder of why we must follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit at all times; the moment Satan steps in and we act according to the desires of the flesh, something that was supposed to be a good deed and pure in motive is turned into a heinous sin-- a generosity out of love for others corrupted by self-interests, the very opposite of being 'one in heart and mind' [v.32, Acts 4]
- [See v.12] 'all the believers used to meet together'- as much as the 'miraculous signs and wonders' [v.11] performed by the apostles display the power of the Holy Spirit, even greater is the power of the Holy Spirit in bringing God's people together
- 'Solomon's Colonnade'- this was a large area in the temple complex that was open to everyone
- [See v.13] 'No one else dare joined them...were highly regarded by the people'- the people begin to see that it is no casual commitment to follow Jesus and the unity and honesty of these early Christians earned them a glowing reputation as if God had put them on a pedestal
- [See v.14] 'more and more men and women believed'- despite the initial reaction of the people that following Jesus is serious and probably too much so for their current lifestyle which is far from the ways of this early Christian community, the power of the Holy Spirit sweeps through the whole community adding to the numbers of the rapidly growing church
- [See v.15] 'Peter's shadow might fall on some of them'- the people were so convinced of the realness and power of what the Christians believed that they thought they could be healed by the mere touch of Peter's shadow-- this is in reference to the belief in ancient times that shadows had magical powers
- Yet it wasn't Peter's shadow that had any power; there was power when a person believed in Jesus to heal
- Jesus was working through the apostles as a healer, in this case using Peter as a vessel through which people would release their faith in Jesus as the healer
- As the church grows out of its purity and unity, God blesses them with great power through the Holy Spirit, healing the sick and casting out demons by the work of Jesus Christ
- As their good works and growing reputation clearly and powerfully become evident in the community, persecution comes, again
- [See v.17] 'high priest and all his associates...were filled with jealousy'- the Jewish leaders envy the power and influence of the apostles, focused only on their own reputations which may be threatened at the moment
- [See v.18] 'arrested the apostles'- these high ranking officials exercise their power thinking they are the supreme authority of the land when in fact what they are doing amounts to declaring "How dare God not give us His powers" and not "How dare we try to hide God's glory" in humbleness to the almighty King
- [See v.19] 'an angel of the Lord opened the doors'- God intervenes as He sends angels forth to free the apostles from prison; no wall is great enough to keep God's purposes from being fulfilled as they are set free, not to celebrate, but to continue teaching and spreading the Gospel
- [See v.21] 'At daybreak they entered the temple courts'- the apostles promptly obey God's command to go and teach the people, going to the most public area, the temple, at the crack of dawn; we might like to think that the apostles would try to flee for their lives or hide out for their safety after having been locked up but what supernatural boldness they show in going back to doing the same thing that got them arrested!
- [See v.22] 'officers did not find them there'- we can picture the high priest and his associates waiting pompously for the apostles to be brought in to face the highest court of the land, 'the Sanhedrin' [v.21], hoping that their plan to intimidate the apostles overnight in jail and "soften them up" would work in their favor and the apostles' courage would dwindle away
- Even though they didn't want to admit it, in the silence of the court these proud people must have realized they were no longer in control but that something greater was happening that wasn't in their hands
- [See v.24] 'wondering what would come of this'- the Jewish leaders still are wondering what the outcome will be; the apostles know that God's work will continue
- [See v.26] 'They did not use force, because they feared that the people would stone them'- when the apostles are arrested again, the crowd is obviously on the side of the apostles; the apostles could have appealed to the crowd and asked for help in resisting to be arrested, but they trusted in God alone, bowing not even to popular opinion that might benefit them and cause them less harm
- On the other side of it, the temple guard and his officers who arrest the apostles are fearful of losing their lives because the crowd might stone them; what a contrast between the apostles fearing God and the Jewish council fearing men
- [See v.28] 'you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching'- how ironic that the high priest's accusation is a testimony to the effectiveness of the apostles' teaching and spreading of the Gospel
- 'determined to make us guilty of this man's blood'- the high priest continues his accusations, saying that the apostles are trying to hold the Jewish leaders accountable for Jesus' death; but this very guilt the Jewish leaders are trying to deny and avoid is the very thing that will bring them to faith in Jesus Christ- covered, and cleansed, by His blood- another testimony to God's work through the apostles in saving men by the power of the risen Lord Jesus Christ
- [See v.29] 'We must obey God rather than men'- the apostles explain to the Sanhedrin why they have taught and preached in the name of Jesus in a straightforward manner that challenges the core of what the Sanhedrin believe- man's opinion
- [See v.32] 'Whom God has given to those who obey Him'- The Holy Spirit is given to those who obey God; no matter how powerful or influential rulers of the world may be, we should not obey those who try to diminish the honor and authority of God
- [See v.30-31] The apostles give testimony to the foundation of Christian faith, speaking of man's guilt ('whom you had killed' [v.30]), Jesus' death ('hanging him on a tree' [v.30]), Jesus' resurrection ('raised Jesus from the dead' [v.30]) and man's responsibility to respond ('he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel' [v.31])
- [See v.32] 'We are witnesses...so is the Holy Spirit'- not only were human eyes witnesses of this, God was
- [See v.33] 'they were furious and wanted to put them to death'- not only had the apostles disregarded the Sanhedrin's orders, they were now declaring that the Sanhedrin had murdered Jesus; what was supposed to be a trial indicting the apostles now was an indictment of the persecution council
- God, through the apostles, passes judgment on the court that sentenced Jesus to death on the cross and now the court and its council were the criminals; God can turn the tables quickly and bring His justice to pass
- All rationale and law were thrown out the window as the Sanhedrin seethed with anger, out of control and unable to think clearly, calling for the unlawful deaths of the apostles
- [See v.33] 'a Pharisee named Gamaliel...stood up...ordered that the men be put outside'- all the sudden in the middle of this chaos, Gamaliel, a well-known and highly regarded teacher who happened to be a Pharisee, gets up and quiets the crowd down but has the apostles leave because he doesn't want them to hear this; he pleads with members of the Sanhedrin to calm down, regain their composure and come to a more reasonable conclusion
- [See v.38] 'if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail'- Gamaliel proposes to the members of the Sanhedrin to wait a little while to see if this movement of the apostles will fail just as many other movements led by men in the past have failed; his premise was based on history and stated that movements led by men will die with the death of the leader but that a movement led by God would last beyond the death of the leader
- He may have appeared to be speaking for God but he was not; he was defining God's truth by the success and duration of a movement (how many manmade movements are successful and have nothing to do with God) and speaking from his own intellect
- Gamaliel took the "wait and see" attitude, "sitting on the fence" even after all the apostles had testified to the resurrection of Jesus Christ; how often do people see God speaking through others yet they themselves won't accept Jesus, repent and trust God, instead seeing God behind the church as being a "hypothetical" possibility
- [See v.40] 'had them flogged'- the Sanhedrin figured a beating might intimidate and discourage the apostles from preaching and teaching in the name of Jesus Christ
- [See v.41] 'left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing'- the apostles instead rejoice, not because they suffered, but because they were 'counted worthy of suffering disgrace' for Jesus Christ; it was a privilege to be associated with Jesus, even to suffer, if it brought glory to God
- [See v.42] 'Day after day...house to house...never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ'- the apostles show a relentless courage and determination to stand firm for Jesus Christ despite the severe beatings and growing opposition from the leaders of the land
