Hello, my ‘Walking with Jesus’ friends,
Have you noticed how big a role MONEY plays in every society, most relationships and even the spiritual journey many people walk? Yesterday we were in Jerusalem watching an amazing thing. A Jewish Levite from Cyprus named Joseph (Barnabas) sold a piece of real estate he owned and brought the money to the apostles for help in meeting the needs of people he didn’t even know!
Barnabas was profoundly impacted by the “Great Awakening” happening in Jerusalem, with more than 5000 men (Acts 4:4) having trusted Jesus to be their Savior, Messiah and Lord; and then many of them generously giving financially to help the needy. (Acts 4:32-37) But a problem was brewing!!
While we have no record of the amount Barnabas received for the land, nor what the apostles did with that sum of money, Acts 5:1-11 gives us the troubling account of a man named Ananias and his wife Sapphira, who evidently were so impressed by Barnabas’ act of generosity, they did the same thing, but with a twist.
The record says Ananias came first, bringing their land sale proceeds, as Barnabas had done, and putting it before the apostles. But Ananias and his wife Sapphira were greedy, deceitful people. They kept a portion of the sale for themselves while claiming the amount offered to the apostles was the full amount of the sale.
Peter’s reaction to this was very strong. Peter confronted Ananias with these words: “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit of God…?” (Acts 5:3,4) Oh my! Do you hear Peter identifying the work of Satan attempting to disrupt the work of the Holy Spirit? Do you remember once Jesus had confronted Peter because he too was allowing Satan’s influence in his heart to disrupt the work of God? You’ll find that shocking event in Matthew 16:21-23.
When Peter finished his accurate, condemning accusation, Ananias was so stunned he actually collapsed and died, right there on the spot! His body was taken out and buried. A short while later his wife Sapphira came in to see Peter and the apostles, presumably expecting accolades for their generosity. Instead, Peter asked her one simple question: “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias received for the land?’ ‘Yes, that is the price.” (Acts 5:7.8) Sapphira responded!
While we don’t know who else was present to hear her outright lie, Peter’s response shocked Sapphira: “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!” (Acts 5:9) Dr. Luke tells us Sapphira collapsed and died, as her husband Ananias had only 3 hours before. The same men came and took her body and buried it next to her husband’s. And then we are given this shocking statement: “Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.” (Acts 5:11) Of course! The big question everyone had was WHY did this happen?
What is your answer my friends? Why did God strike Ananias and Sapphira dead on the spot as they brought their generosity to the apostles? May I offer two answers?
Do you remember Acts 4:32 tells us, “All the believers were one in heart and mind.” The Holy Spirit of God was not only regenerating these who believed in Jesus as they were ‘born again’ into new life in Christ; (John 3:3-7) the Holy Spirit was also uniting them together in heart and mind, thousands of them! That was a huge miracle of unity.
While these were all Jews, coming from so many regions of the world (Acts 2:5) they were radically different from each other. Barnabas trusting the apostles to handle his generosity was a wonderful example of this unity in caring for the needy among them. In fact Acts 4:32 continues: “No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had.” Have you ever seen anything like that? That is a unity in trust and a deep compassion for each other which only God can build, and Satan was determined to fracture it!
The deceitfulness of Ananias and Sapphira was a deadly threat to that God nurtured unity. Selfishness and deceitfulness could spread like cancer through this new ‘Jesus movement’ and the results could be disastrous! The purity and unity of this spiritual movement needed to be protected at all costs.
Secondly is the matter of INTEGRITY. Ananias & Sapphira were under no obligation to bring all the proceeds of the land sale to help the needy. They were free to keep as much for themselves as they needed or desired. But holding some of the funds back yet claiming the amount brought to the apostles was the total sum of the sale, well that was a bold face lie, exposing their intention to draw applause for their generosity.
Pride, greed and deceitfulness often go hand in hand and are fertile ground for the work of Satan. In fact, Jesus had said lying is Satan’s native tongue. (John 8:44)
The remarkable ‘great awakening’ in Jerusalem described in Acts 2-4 had been happening only a few weeks at most. It was unexpected, radical and was uniting Jews from all over the Roman empire in a shared, life changing experience with Jesus. It was fragile since it had never happened before anywhere in the world and the disciples of Jesus had no leadership manual to guide them in managing this spiritual tsunami response to the Gospel of resurrected Jesus which they were boldly proclaiming.
The deceitfulness, greed, pride, and manipulation of what Ananias & Sapphira had done could have thrown this Jesus movement into chaos! God responded that day in Jerusalem, as He had centuries before with Achan (Joshua 7) and also with Korah, Dathan and Abiram. (Numbers 16) These devout Jews would have known both those graphic events very well, and that’s why terrifying fear spread across Jerusalem. Do you know those stories?
Pause for reflection and if you have time, I suggest you read one or both of those remarkable Old Testament accounts which are so similar to what was happening in Acts 5. God hates deceitfulness, pride and greed and often He responds in dramatic ways, especially when this evil is countering a work of His Holy Spirit.
But aren’t you also glad to know God is ready to forgive as He hears repentance?
So, the “lessons learned” study notes at the link below will be very helpful to you today, as will the worship song, and let’s meet here again tomorrow, because God has much more, He wants to teach us!
Today’s Scripture: Acts 5:1-11.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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