Acts 5:5 When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened.
The sad story of Ananias and his wife Sapphira troubles me. It seems to be such a harsh and unjust punishment in a faith community that was supposed to be built upon love and compassion. The couple were guilty of keeping back some of their resources for themselves, which is something that we’re all guilty of at times. The questions that arise in my mind are these: why were they killed instantly for their greed and insecurity? Why weren’t they given the opportunity to repent of their lies and shown Christian mercy?
The circumstances behind this event also bother me. The young Jerusalem Church, which was led by Peter, believed that Christ was going to imminently return. Because of this, they thought that they had no need for possessions and that whatever resources they owned, they would share these together until Christ came back. This sounded ideal, but in practice it was an unmitigated disaster. Within a couple of years, the Church was starving and this was one reason why Paul had to collect money for the Jerusalem Church in the years to come.
So if the Jerusalem Church was wrong in its beliefs about Christ’s return, why were Ananias and Sapphira so dreadfully punished?
It looks like they blasphemed against the Holy Spirit which, according to Christ, is the unforgiveable sin. Members of the Jerusalem church, like Barnabas, were inspired by the Holy Spirit to sell what they owned and give the proceeds to the faith community. Ananias and Sapphira were guilty of publicly making a show of what they were giving, so that they could be praised instead of God. And when they held back some of the proceeds for themselves, they were usurping the work of the Holy Spirit and being faithless. If they truly trusted the Holy Spirit, then they would have given cheerfully and not held anything back.
Did their sin merit the death penalty? I personally don’t think so, but obviously something gravely offended God. It seems harsh to us today because we want God to bless what we do and ignore our shortcomings. But perhaps we are deceiving ourselves by molding the Holy Spirit into what we want, instead of allowing the Holy Spirit to shape us. And isn’t that the very sin that Ananias and Sapphira were guilty of committing?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, this passage really troubles us because we know that we could be in the same shoes of Ananias or Sapphira. Forgive our insecurities and pretence. Help us to adhere to Your ways and apply Your teaching in our daily lives. In Your Holy Name, we humbly pray. Amen.
John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment on today’s message, please send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.
