And Peter answered her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much?” She said, “Yes, for so much.” Then Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” Then immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. And the young men came in and found her dead, and carrying her out, buried her by her husband. So great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things. And through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people. And they were all with one accord in Solomon’s Porch. Yet none of the rest dared join them, but the people esteemed them highly.
Acts 5:8-13 NKJV
I always find it a bit amusing when people say they want to have the power of God just like the early church. What they usually mean is they want lots of prophecy, dancing, and working of miracles. They rarely include radical holiness and instant judgment of sin in their wish list.
After telling us about Barnabas and how he showed Godly generosity and character, Luke now presents us with an example of religious fraud. Ananias and Sapphira were after the limelight. Unfortunately, they misrepresented their giving, and it had fatal consequences. We pick up the story with Sapphira arriving on the scene, unaware that her husband had already died. She promptly tells the same lie and suffers the same consequences.
This event spawns quite a chain reaction:
- Holy awe: The church and those outside who heard about it were in “great fear.”
- Miracles: Signs and wonders flowed. Power and purity go together.
- Unity: The faithful were together in one accord. When God is real, divisions dissolve.
- Community respect: When the Church is serious, the world sees it.
Do we really want the power of God as it’s described in the first church? What if that means cleaning up our act, getting our hearts right, and remembering that we are a holy people serving a holy God? Maybe then we can see the rest of the story:
And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them. The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed.
Acts 5:14-16 ESV
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