Ananias and Sapphira: What Was Really Going On?

There is a troubling passage for many in the book of Acts (5:1-10) where people seem to die because they lie about how much money they gave to the apostles. “Really?”, people ask, “There are far worse things people should die for than giving less money than they say they did. I mean come on, they gave money at least!” This sparks an important conversation, where it is allowed, because why wouldn't God kill the person who claims to be a christian but molests and kills children? Why does God let them live? The punishment for Ananias and Sapphira doesn’t fit the crime, however, we can see the punishment does fit the sin of someone known to not always understand grace and forgiveness: the Apostle Peter.

“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” - 1 John 4:18

Instead of pulling out the card “God’s ways are not our ways” to justify the death of two people giving money but lying about how much, it might help us to look at the context and what the scripture actually says. For example, I hear people read things into the text like, “God killed them” or “Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit when he spoke to them.” When you read the text you find no such things. What you do see is Peter being Peter. The same Peter who in one moment is having a Holy Spirit revelation about who Christ actually is and the next being called satan by Jesus because he is partnering with “the accuser” and being a stumbling block to Jesus because his mind was not set on what God was actually doing (See Matthew 16:16-17,16:23). This is the same Peter who cut off a guy's ear in trying to defend Jesus and the same Peter who denied Jesus three times. This Peter continually struggled to understand who God really was and how to use his authority as seen again with Ananias and Sapphira.

If we don’t see the context we will be in danger of cutting people’s ears off from hearing what was really going on.

The beautiful thing about scripture, if we look deeply and do not resort to simplistic answers that cut off our ears from the mystery of God and the revelation of who God actually is in Christ, is that it shows people’s glaring weaknesses and surrendered strengths. It mirrors our life in such a way that should we read it with Holy Spirit, we will be cut to the depths of our being as the words divide our very joints and marrow with the truth of God within our tendencies. Whether that tendency is to lie, like Ananias and Sapphira, or to judge harshly like Peter. If Peter had allowed the Holy Spirit to work with Ananias and Sapphira the same way Jesus allowed forgiveness to cover Peter’s sins, he could have kept his mouth shut in pronouncing death and judgment over them. He could have let them see that mercy triumphs over judgment, something he had not quite learned yet, because love had not yet been perfected in him. (This should be an encouragement for us on our own journey in God if even Peter was not perfect yet!)

Peter had become a stumbling block to the way of Christ once again.

Instead of great mercy being shown, which is the way of Christ, great fear came upon people. This was both the healthy fear that comes when miracles are happening and the unhealthy fear that comes when leaders in authority pronounce death and judgment over people. Position and power has a strange way of corrupting and causing people to forget the very same mercy they were shown is to be shown to others. But how brilliant of God to leave this right in the text for us to see, and may we have the eyes to see it! Here is Peter having another “get behind me satan” moment where he partnered with “the accuser” rather than the Holy Spirit he’d thought he was partnering with. How many of us have felt our judgment was partnering with God when it was really just our lack of showing the very same mercy and forgiveness we claim has forgiven us and the whole world? It was our lack of understanding that God destroys death and gives life and it is the satan who seeks to accuse, streal, kill, and destroy. When we get this mixed up, we cause a lot of confusion around the nature of God and what the scriptures can reveal to us.

So may we realize:

Accusations from the mouth have killed many in our history when people fail to realize the power of our words because “Life and Death is in the power of the tongue.” (Proverbs 18:21)

“With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.” - James 3:9-10

And so

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” - Philippians 4:8

May we surrender our tongue to God and focus on things that build up and give grace. May we surrender our judgments and pronouncements of death on those made in the image of God who may currently be sinning like we have. May we not become a stumbling block in the refusal to show mercy triumphs over judgment. May we become more and more like Christ, who when lied to, did not lie in return, when reviled, did not revile in return, when killed, did not kill in return, but resurrected the very life of love and forgiveness we have all dreamed of: A life of unconditional love.

Instead of causing unhealthy fear to come on all the people, may we partner with God in causing love to cast out all fear, for then, a true holy reverence for God is actualized within us. Then, we will not hold back the very property of our own life for we realize we were bought with a price and we are not our own. Then, we will not lie, but our very lives will tell the truth.

Much Love On The Journey of Love Casting Out All Our Fear,

-PH