ACTS 4:32-5:11 Do Ananias & Sapphira really deserve to die?

Background to the Passage (4:32-35) WHAT’S THE DEAL WITH PROPERTY SALES, ANYWAY? “…no one [in the community of believers] claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they had everything in common” (v. 32b). “There was no needy person among them, for those who owned property or houses would sell them, bring the proceeds of the sale, and put them at the feet of the apostles, and they were distributed to each according to need” (vv ).

More Background to the Passage (4:36-37) “Thus Joseph…sold a piece of property that he owned, then brought the money and put it at the feet of the disciples” (4:36a, 37). Joseph (also called Barnabas) represents the greater community by going ALL IN, trusting in the Holy Spirit and relying on the community to provide for him.

Ananias & Sapphira: The Deed (5:1-2) “A man named Ananias, however, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property. He retained for himself, with his wife’s knowledge, some of the purchase price, took the remainder, and put it at the feet of the apostles” (5:1-2). Ananias & Sapphira, unlike Joseph and the others, go only PARTLY IN, refusing to completely entrust them- selves to the care of the Spirit and the community.

Why hold onto some of the $$ ? For some security in case this whole “Jesus thing” didn’t work out? Greed? A sense of “fair’s fair” or entitlement?

What’s the Charge? (Acts 5:3-4, 9a) “…Peter said, ‘Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart so that you lied to the holy Spirit and retained part of the price of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain yours? And when it was sold, was it not still under your control? Why did you contrive this deed? You have lied not to human beings, but to God’” (vv. 3-4). “Then Peter said to [Sapphira], ‘Why did you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord…” (v. 9a)? In both cases, Peter clarifies that the beef lies not between Ananias and Sapphira and the community (or some other human being), but between them and the Holy Spirit / God.  It’s the crime of “holding on to something”.

The Punishment for Ananias & Sapphira (Acts 5:5; 9b-10a, 11) “When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last, and great fear came upon all who heard of it.” “‘Listen, the footsteps of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.’ At once, she fell down at [Peter’s] feet and breathed her last. When the young men entered they found her dead…And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard these things.”

Connections & Conclusions… If the breath of life breathed by God over the waters and into man’s lungs in Genesis is the Holy Spirit, then “breathed their last” becomes even more significant! Discipleship and belief in / trust in / reliance upon the Spirit through the love and commitment of the community requires an ALL IN approach! Can you think of any implications the author intended for the community and its members based on the reaction of “all who heard” about what happened to Ananias and Sapphira?