The Bible passage today reveals a terrifying lesson from a married couple named Ananias & Sapphira. They were among the believers who at that time “were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had.” (Acts 4:32). The believers listened to the apostles who with great power testified about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. “And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them” (Acts 4:33-34). People came and put money from the sales of their land or homes voluntarily at the Apostles’ feet. They submit to God and His work.
When we believe in Jesus, He cares not only of our afterlife
future but also the life we live on right now. He provides. On the other hand,
when we really believe in Jesus, we become generous with our possessions. It
doesn’t dominate our lives anymore, but God and His will. Nevertheless, we must
question it in our hearts, how serious was Ananias & Sapphira’s sin that
God had to put them to death.
It was weird that when everyone was so sincere and devoted
to God, these two were not. I am not a theology expert to explain. Meanwhile I
have been contemplating on a verse that Jesus once said, “No one can serve two
masters; for either he will hate the
one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God
and wealth.” (Matt 6:24). Based on this reference, next might be the reasons
why “they agreed to cheat and keep some of the money for themselves” (v.2, CEV)
which ended their lives.
First, they loved it more than God. It had become their idol.
To be more specific as in Matthew 6:24, it was the opposite of love, they hated God. Ananias and Sapphira
might want to be recognized as one of the generous rich people who gave their
possessions up for others. They did it for themselves not for God. Maybe they
were struggling before selling it even holding grudge that they had to do it to
be able to be considered good. Actually, they didn’t have to sell it. As Peter
said, “The property was yours to sell or not sell, as you wished. And after
selling it, the money was also yours to give away. How could you do a thing
like this? You weren’t lying to us but to God!” (v.4, NLT).
Second, they despised God. The Oxford dictionary explains
the word ‘despise’: to dislike and have
no respect for someone or something. The word of God and the preaching of
the Apostles about the tremendous sacrifice of Jesus Christ for saving themselves
meant nothing to them. They did not even respect the Holy Spirit who was at
work so greatly during this early church development. That’s why lying in front
of these great Apostles of God was not a problem to them. Miracles and wonders
were made, but they apparently were not in awe. They were not afraid of God’s
power. On the contrary, a true follower of Christ will have true sadness when disappointing God. Our friend Fr. Fransiskus Diaz told us once about godly sorrow - that is when we feel so sorry for our behavior towards God.
However, no one noticed the hypocrisy of this couple. They looked religiously decent. But Peter who was filled with the Holy Spirit knew. It's hard but true. That not every one at Church is a real Christian. That's why Jesus gave a parable about the weeds and wheat in the same field (Matt 13:24-30). The farmer (Jesus) plants wheat but the enemy (the Devil) sows the seeds of weeds among the wheat. In his early church God needs to give an example to all, of what they have to be aware of. The death of the two seized the whole church with fear (v.10). God did not allow Satan's work to succeed at His church.
The story of Ananias and Sapphira is an example of a manipulative behavior towards the Holy Spirit, marked by hypocrisy and insincerity. It was Satan who played at the backside. They used God for their own purpose while they submitted to Satan’s purpose. Peter said to him, "Ananias, why did you let Satan take control of you and make you lie to the Holy Spirit by keeping part of the money you received for the property? (v.3, GNT)
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