Was God heavy-handed with Ananias and Sapphira? (Acts 5:1-11) Part 2

What exactly did Ananias and Sapphira do?

1But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, 2 and with his wife's knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles' feet.3 But Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? Acts 5:1-3

They lied about the amount they gave. They intentionally led everyone to believe they had given 100% of the proceeds from their property sale. This is especially sad because they were under no apostolic mandate to even sell their land in the first place. The apostles weren’t imposing it on them or on anyone else for that matter. The church practiced free-will giving. This is implied by Peter’s rhetorical address to Ananias, “While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal” (Acts 5:4)? Peter pints out for Ananias what Ananias already knew. Ananias knew that he had a right to own land and to do with it as he pleased. He not only had the freedom to sell or not sell, but also the freedom to disperse the money as he pleased. If Ananias would’ve made his intentions known saying and carried follow through in action accordingly saying, “I’ll give 50% to the church and keep 50% for my wife and me,” then according to Peter that would’ve been fine too. The amount of money was not the issue, but their deception.

Why did Ananias lead everyone to believe they had given all?

Peter asked, “Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart?" Isn’t it ironic that it is Peter who discerns the work of Satan in the heart of Ananias? Peter at one time had also been influenced by Satan so that he unthinkably opposed Jesus. The difference is that Peter was unaware of it and actually believed he was doing the right thing until Jesus rebuked him saying, "Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man" (Mk 8:33). Unlike Peter’s sin Ananias’ sin was premeditated. He conspired with his wife knowing full well that they were doing wrong, but why? What motivated them?

Why did Ananias and Sapphira do it?

The scripture does not specifically tell us why Ananias and Sapphira did what they did, but I think we can take a good jab at it because we all possess a nature just like theirs. What do I mean by that? I mean what Paul means. In writing to the Corinthians Paul said, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man” (1 Cor 10:13a). What did Paul mean by temptation that is “common to man?” He means that people have struggled with the same kind of sins since The Fall. We all fell from the same tree so to speak. We are of the same cut. All men in every century regardless of the place have struggled with lust, sexual immorality, greed and power struggles to name only a few. Women too are prone to particular sins that men may not be, but we are all in the same boat nevertheless. With the exception of Jesus there have been no human beings after the fall that did not possess a sinful nature. The problem isn’t sin out there, but sin in here. Sin isn’t external, but internal. Jesus said,

“21 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality,envy, slander, pride, foolishness.23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person" (Mark 7:21-23).

Jesus spoke about denying self and crucifying the flesh daily (Luke 9:23). When we speak of not exposing ourselves to ungodly things whether it comes through media of any type or through the company of the shady company we may unwisely keep we are not thinking in terms of sin coming in, but we are concerned with waking up "the old man” and by that I don’t mean “Dad’s taking a nap so please don’t do anything to wake him.” We are taking about arousing “the flesh with its passions and desires” (Galatians 5:24). Como dicen, “No le muevas.”

We may elevate men of God from past generations so much that we may think them less sinful, but the Bible simply won’t have it. The Apostle James says, “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours” (James 5:17). The KJV says, “[Elijah] was a man subject to like passions as we are…”

17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth.18 Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit. James 5:17-18

Part of the point to the verse is that just because Elijah through his prayers was able to make it rain or cause a drought did not mean that he was super human. “[He] was a man with a nature like ours” i.e. a sinful nature. Therefore it doesn’t matter how much one has accomplished or may accomplish in the name of God all men yesterday, today and until Jesus comes will remain sinful in their nature. Our hope for a full and complete deliverance from “this body of death” (Rom 7:24) is in the return of Jesus and in final the resurrection,

50 I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God,nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory." (1 Corinthians 15:50-54)

Our Sin Commonality to Ananias and Sapphira

What does any of this have to do with Ananias and Sapphira? My point is that the reason we can probably have a good idea as to why they did what they did is (as I’ve probably overstated) that they possessed a nature just like ours and therefore their struggle was something that is common to us all.

How many of you want to be known for being generous? Even though someone may be greedy they don’t like to think as such “y menos” do they want to be known among others as greedy individuals! I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to walk down the street in Robstown only to hear someone say, “Mira! Ayi va Chris ‘codo’ DeLuna. A ese ni le sacas ningun chicle.” We want to have the appearance of being good people. We would all like to enjoy a good reputation? We want to be well spoken of? Now the question is what are we willing to do to attain that kind of status in the eyes of others? That’s somewhat of the position Ananias and Sapphira were in.

To be continued…