But a certain man, Ananias by name, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession,
Acts 5 opens with a word of contrast. In the chapter before, believers sold property and laid the money at the apostles' feet. Now a couple do the same thing — almost. If no one had to give anything, why did keeping back part of the price end in death?
The giving in the previous chapter was spontaneous, not a rule. That is the key to the whole account, because a gift that is free cannot be cheated on by giving less.
What the Spirit of God was doing then was plainly grace in faith. There was no demand at all. Nothing could falsify the fruit of the Spirit of God here more than turning it into an unspoken rule. There was no compulsion at all in this case. Nobody was asked to give anything. What was gold or silver, what were houses or lands, to the Lord? The worth of it all depended on its being the power of the Spirit of God — the fruit of divine grace in the heart.
Ananias sold real land and gave real money. What he wanted in return was a name he had not earned.
What lay behind the lie in this case were the twin evils of covetousness and vainglory. Ananias wanted to keep part of the money for himself. Yet he also wanted the reputation of having given it all to the Lord, as Barnabas had done. Such is the mind of the flesh, even in a believer. How many of us have never had similar evils at work in our own hearts?
Writers note where this places him in the story's shape — his sin follows a good example and feeds off it.
In terrible contrast to him is Ananias ("Jah has shown grace") but who abuses grace to his own destruction. The good report of Barnabas, if we may judge by the connection, seems to have moved him; but only with an ungodly rivalry. He covets the reputation and the influence... but he has no thought, even for this, of making the sacrifice required. Outwardly he must do it, while his heart refuses; and so, together with his wife, he forms a deliberate plan to deceive — leaving God out.
Luke is careful to say Sapphira knew. That detail is not incidental — two people steadied each other in the wrong direction.
How many a Christian woman has been the true helper of her husband! She warns him in time and appeals to him at once, condemning any and every evil at the first sign of it. How dreadful when the man and the woman help one another to forget God and His gracious but holy presence! How dreadful when they agree to dishonour the name of the Lord by claiming a self-sacrificing devotion that is a lie!
As far as people could see, the scheme was airtight. They had left just one thing out of the calculation.
No human witness appeared against them. Very likely the buyer was a Jew, who had no interest in exposing them. In their eyes they had laid the plan well, and it seemed to be working. They would earn a reputation for generosity as good as the one Joseph the Levite had, who was born in Cyprus. The enemy no doubt hoped that deceit and lying would gain a foothold in the assembly. Then the leaven would work, grieving the Spirit, and God would have to come in as a Judge, as He had in Eden on the day of the Fall.
The seriousness of the sin turns on who was there when they brought the money.
Ananias and Sapphira have lied to the Holy Spirit. That is the seriousness of their sin. God dwelt among His own in the assembly. Greed had deceived his heart and conscience — greed for money, or for human glory. So Ananias did not recognise His presence. But someone else was also at work in this sad event. Satan suggested to them the way to keep back the money and still win fame. But the Holy Spirit was there. The folly of men and the malice of Satan only made the truth and the power of His presence plain.
The end of the story changed what it meant to join this company.
The man was carried out at once and buried. Sapphira came in about three hours later, not knowing what had happened. Peter reproved her solemnly for agreeing with her husband to tempt the Spirit of the Lord, and told her she would be buried just as her husband was. How little they profited from the money they withheld! Great fear gripped all the church as well as others who heard of the matter. Dishonest people would no doubt think twice before linking themselves with the disciples. The church itself, too, was to feel the truth and holiness of the God with whom they had to do.
- Free — No one had to give anything. The giving was the fruit of grace, not a rule, so the money was never the issue.
- Copied — A couple copied Barnabas's real gift. They wanted his reputation without his cost.
- Agreed — Husband and wife strengthened each other in the lie. Neither one stopped it at the first sign.
- Detected — No human witness could expose them. But God was dwelling among His people, and their lie struck at a Person who was there.
- Feared — They lost the money anyway, and the church and everyone who heard came away with a deep sense of God's holiness.
and put aside for himself part of the price, [his] wife also being privy to it; and having brought a certain part, laid it at the feet of the apostles.
Believers in Jerusalem had been selling property and laying the money at the apostles' feet. Ananias and Sapphira copied them. They held back part of the price and handed over the rest as if it were everything. The money was theirs to keep. So what exactly was the crime?
This story follows a high point in the Spirit's work. One writer sees that order as the rule, not the exception.
God rarely shows Himself in the church without a dark shadow following it from the evil one... The presence of evil should not alarm us. We should be sure instead that where God works, Satan will follow. He seeks to take the very good that the Spirit is doing and turn it into a way of bringing in his own counterfeit, to the dishonour of the Lord.
The sin was not stinginess. They had every right to keep part of the price. One writer shows what an honest version of the same act would have sounded like.
They kept back some of the money themselves (which they had a perfect right to do) and then they gave away the rest. Suppose they had come forward in a fully open way and said, "We have sold this piece of land. We want to give this much of it to the Lord's interests, and we would like to keep the rest for ourselves." That would have been completely honest. But instead they said, "Some are giving all they have. We want the credit that they get. We want to be like them, but we do not want to be true like them." So they acted hypocritically, keeping something for themselves but claiming to have given all.
Two appetites were at work at once.
Ananias and Sapphira wanted to get the character of devotedness (such as the Church had) without the cost of it. Love of money really governed, modified by love of Church reputation.
Of all the sins that could have opened the church's story, this is the one that did.
Ananias acted the lie. Sapphira told it. They wanted a reputation for being more heavenly-minded than they were. Pretending to a higher spiritual state was the first recorded sin in the church's history.
The verse records no false statement — only money laid down. That silence is part of the lesson.
Did that man tell a lie? We do not read of any words spoken at that moment. He came and laid down his money at the feet of the apostles, for the common need of all. But God was there, and no one could deceive Him... This man wanted to appear devoted when he was not. God was there in the middle of His assembly, and He detected the pretence, exposed it, and judged it.
The verse says his wife knew. That points to a home where two people talked it over and agreed.
Ananias follows, but his heart was not right with God: he seized that moment of "great grace upon all" for his great deceit. It was made worse by his wife knowing and taking part in it. How many a Christian woman has been a true helper to her husband, warning him in time and appealing to him at once, condemning any and every evil at the first sign of it! How dreadful when the man and the woman help each other to forget God and His gracious but holy presence!
The judgment that follows is severe. One writer reads it as God proving where He lives.
The church is a place of discipline... He was powerfully active in the church and showed His power in holy discipline... Often, at the start of a new era, God gives a very striking display of power and of disciplinary judgment... Here was something that no ordinary person could have detected. But the Holy Spirit knew about it, and by acting in this way He proved that He truly lives in the church, the house of God. God dealt with them, and that shows they were His saints.
- Counterfeit. Where God works, Satan follows. He did not attack this generosity — he copied it.
- Free. No one asked them for the money. They could have kept the whole price openly and done nothing wrong.
- Reputation. They wanted the credit of devotedness without its cost. Love of money ruled them, shaped by their love of the church's good opinion.
- Acted. This verse records no words. They told the lie with money, and God read it as a lie all the same.
- Detected. No person could have spotted it. The Spirit knew, and by dealing with it He proved He lives among His people.
But Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled thy heart that thou shouldest lie to the Holy Spirit, and put aside for thyself a part of the price of the estate?
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
While it remained did it not remain to *thee*? and sold, was [it not] in thine own power? Why is it that thou hast purposed this thing in thine heart? Thou hast not lied to men, but to God.
Believers were selling property to help each other, and Ananias brought part of a sale while letting it look like the whole. Peter's questions make two things clear: no one demanded the money, and Ananias lied to God, not to the church.
The first two questions remove any idea that Ananias was under pressure.
This generosity wasn't something laid on them as a divine demand. Peter said to Ananias: "While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal?" He was under no compulsion. He might have sold it and kept the money, without pretending anything, but he came acting a lie. Poor Sapphira told one.
So was the sharing of goods in Jerusalem ever a rule?
This settled it with authority: holding goods in common was in no way required. Anyone was free to give. Anyone was free to keep what he owned, whether land or money. Only, whatever was done had to be done honestly.
Keeping the money was lawful. So the sin lay somewhere else — in the claim attached to the gift.
He makes it very clear that Ananias had a perfect right to keep all the land if he chose to. Once it was sold, he had a right to keep all or part of the money. But to falsely claim to be giving all was wickedness in the eyes of God. He had lied, not merely to men, but to God.
What did the couple hope to gain by pretending?
It seems they wanted their brothers and sisters to see them as devoted and unworldly, like Barnabas and many others. How often has human opinion ensnared men's souls!
Peter names Satan as the one who filled his heart, yet asks why he planned the deed there.
Notice that Peter speaks to him as a man who claims to be a Christian. He holds him responsible for giving in to the temptation.
The record never says Ananias spoke a word. He laid the money down and let it speak for him.
Did that man tell a lie? We do not read, at that moment, of any words being spoken. He came and laid down his money at the feet of the apostles, for the common need of all. But God was there, and He could not be deceived… This man wanted to look devoted when he was not. But God was in the middle of His assembly. He detected the unreality, exposed it, and judged it. How solemn! Yet if there is anything truly blessed to learn, it is that God is among His people, in the heart of the assembly, and He will have reality.
Verse 3 says he lied to the Holy Spirit; verse 4 says he lied to God. Writers take the pairing as a statement about who the Spirit is.
"Why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit? … You have not lied to man but to God" (Acts 5:3-4). Men cannot lie to an influence, or deceive what is not a person. A divine Being had taken up His home in the Church, which He formed at Pentecost, and it was to Him that Ananias had lied.
The Holy Spirit now lives in the Christian. That is what gave this lie its weight.
A Christian's sin is sin against the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has taken up His home in the Christian. So whatever sin he does is a disrespect to the Holy Spirit and a grief to Him. So a lie now is not merely a lie… God was there, and he had acted as if God was not there.
- Free — No one demanded anything from Ananias. The land was his before the sale. The money was his after it.
- Faked — His sin was not withholding but pretending. He could have kept every coin honestly; what he could not do was buy a reputation with a false label.
- Flattered — The bait was human opinion. He wanted the name for devotion that others had earned. Peter still holds him responsible for taking the bait.
- Found out — He said nothing; the money said it for him. God was in the assembly, saw straight through him, and exposed the pretence on the spot. He will have what is real.
- Faced — Peter calls Him the Holy Spirit in one breath and God in the next. You cannot lie to an influence — only to someone who is there.
And Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and expired. And great fear came upon all who heard [it].
A man brings his gift to the church, hears one question from Peter, and drops dead. Who killed Ananias? And why would God answer a lie about money with sudden death?
Peter worked no miracle. He asked one question, and God answered it.
This was not a matter of any spiritual gift. Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit?" God was there; no gift was at work at all; and Ananias and Sapphira fell down dead. They were foolish and mad enough not to see that God was there. So when they came and brought only part of the price of the property, they were lying to God. It was not Peter and John they were lying to. God showed the anger of His presence, and they fell down dead.
The word for what happened to him is plain and physical. It appears twice more in Acts:
ἐκψύχω, 'to breathe out, expire.' Acts 5:5, 10; Acts 12:23.
The size of the sum was never the issue. The lie landed in a place where God was dwelling, and that changed what kind of lie it was.
A Christian's sin is sin against the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has made His home in the Christian, so whatever sin he does is a disrespect to Him and a grief to Him. So a lie now is not just a lie. In this case it was a very formal and deliberate one. Peter therefore brings out what made its character so awful: it was a lie against the Holy Spirit... God was there, and he had acted as if God was not there. So Ananias, on hearing these words, expires, and great fear came upon all.
Writers here draw a careful line between the loss of life and the loss of the soul. What fell on Ananias belongs to God's dealings with His people in this world.
Ananias and Sapphira committed a "sin that leads to death" (Acts 5). Their sin was of such a character that God stepped in and removed them from the scene, in merciful chastisement on themselves, and as a solemn warning to others. But even though their sin led to death, this did not affect their standing, if they were real believers. Their death came from God stepping in with governmental discipline in the church on earth.
Commentators stop short of saying whether the two were saved. One writer leaves the question open:
But, you ask, had Ananias and Sapphira been really converted? Were they Christians? I do not know. They were, outwardly, members of God's assembly on earth, and they were unreal in the position they occupied.
The deaths did more than remove two people. Their effect reached far beyond the pair.
The blow came twice, so no one could mistake that it came from God. It was bound to make an immediate and even deeper impression. We read that "great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things" (v. 11). It was meant as a warning to all within as well as without.
Fear also thinned the crowd of people who wanted the reputation without the reality.
Everyone felt God's presence was there. As a holy result, "none of the rest dared join them." People were not in a great hurry to come into God's assembly in those days. Those who wanted to be thought something of said, It will not do to go in there; if we are not real, we shall be found out.
God still cares for His glory in the church. What has changed is how quickly He acts.
God is jealous of His own glory in the church. When it was established in power, such was His immediate judgment of falsehood. One wonders how many professing Christians would suffer such a fate if God judged that way today! Today, after such great departure, God does not judge evil so swiftly. But the assembly is still responsible to keep proper godly discipline whenever evil becomes known.
- Presence. God was there — that single fact is what turned a lie about money into a lie against the Holy Spirit.
- Power. Peter used no gift and worked no miracle. God showed the anger of His own presence, and Ananias fell down dead.
- Purpose. The judgment was God's discipline in this world — correction and warning, not the loss of the soul.
- Reach. The fear touched the church and everyone who heard. People who were not real stopped joining a company that would expose them.
- Practice. God no longer strikes at once, yet the church must still judge known evil among its own.
And the young men, rising up, swathed him up for burial, and having carried him out, buried him.
Ananias has just fallen dead at Peter's feet. Young men now wrap the body, carry it out and bury it — and the small details raise real questions about who they were, why the haste, and how God deals with His own people.
Some have read a church office into these words — a rank of "younger men" to match the elders who appear later. One writer answers that from the wording a few verses on:
I know that Mosheim tries to prove such a class of officials from "the young men" in Acts 5:6. He imagines them as the counterpart of the "elders," who do not appear until the end of Acts 11... But Scripture nowhere supports any such official "younger men," as it often does with "elders." In fact, in the same passage, when they come back from burying Ananias, they are called "the young men." That title cannot possibly carry such a force. So it ought to disprove the idea for the earlier and matching term too. They were simply the younger brothers. Any prompt call for heavy and sorrowful physical work would naturally fall on them.
The word used for wrapping Ananias up appears only once more in the New Testament. There it describes time, not cloth, and one writer draws out what that means for the things we own:
We are to recognise that "the time is short," or "compressed." The word used means contracted as to space. It appears in only one other place in the New Testament, Acts 5:6, where Ananias is "wound up" for burial. How often we fail to see that we are living in a compressed time! The death and resurrection of Christ have narrowed the issue. So we should hold everything we own in the world with a light hand, ready to let go at a moment's notice.
Quick burial was the normal custom, not a mark of disgrace. Even so, this plain wrapping stands in contrast to burials where love had time to prepare:
Burial was needed quickly in so warm a country, to avoid disease. So the dead were always buried promptly, as with Ananias and Sapphira. These were probably wrapped round with the clothes they were wearing and laid in the grave at once. In other cases they wrapped linen cloths round the body and round the head, as with Lazarus, and as loving hands tended the body of the Lord. Spices were placed among the cloths. At the burial of the Lord, Nicodemus supplied a hundred pounds of myrrh and aloes, besides what the devout women had brought.
No inquiry, no delay. One writer contrasts this with the drawn-out process we expect today:
The fear of God struck deeply into many hearts on this occasion. They carried the man out at once and buried him. Clearly government did not need the many preliminary steps it needs today.
Carrying the body out was itself the message. Deceit had tried to enter the new company, and everyone watched it go:
Ananias and Sapphira received their sentence, as far as this world is concerned, on the day of their deceit. That solemn sentence was carried out at once... The first attempt to bring corruption into the assembly was stamped out in plain sight, as the bodies of the offenders were carried out for burial. There is a sin unto death (1 John 5:16). Such is exemplified here.
Was Ananias lost forever? One writer answers with care:
I see no reason for saying Ananias and Sapphira were not saved. The apostle's reasoning in 1 Corinthians 11:30-32 leads us rather to suppose they were. But it is a mistake to call this dealing with the world. It is God judging inside the assembly, and that He surely does, even to death... God's action in this way inside the assembly is the act of a judge.
- Ordinary hands. Not officials, just the younger men present, who took on a heavy and sorrowful task.
- Ordinary custom. They wrapped him in his own clothes and buried him at once. No linen, no spices, none of the care shown at other burials.
- Extraordinary speed. Sentence and burial fell within the same hour, with none of the steps we expect today.
- Visible verdict. The first corruption to enter the assembly went out the door in full view. It was the sin that leads to death.
- Judged, not condemned. One writer sees no reason to call Ananias unsaved. This was God judging inside His own house, not dealing with the world.