Acts 5

The model of church life presented in the early chapters of Acts is very exciting. We should not dismiss it too quickly as something unique to the first century experience. The patterns of worship and kingdom life established in those early years have the power to inspire us to more faithful obedience to the Lord in every generation. At the close of the previous chapter, Luke identified one particular example of great generosity when Barnabas sold some land and brought the entire amount of the proceeds to the apostles for the use of the church. This was apparently not an isolated example. We are told that “there was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.” In that kind of environment there might be others who wished to appear generous in the eyes of men, and they might be tempted to lie about what they were giving.

This was apparently the case with a couple in the church in Jerusalem named Ananias and Sapphira. They also sold a piece of property and gave a very sizeable gift to the church, but they wanted to make it seem as if they had given all the proceeds to the work of the Lord. Peter confronted first the husband and then the wife on this matter. The Apostle upheld the fact of private property, even during this time when people were giving so much and the needy were being well taken care of by those who had the means to give. The point is that any giving was voluntary. People who owned land had the right to keep if they chose to do so. If they decided to sell their property, the proceeds of the sale were theirs to do with as they saw fit. The sin that had such deadly consequences upon Ananias and Saphira was their lying. Peter makes it clear that this kind of showiness and pride in giving is not just lying to men, but to God, and God is never fooled. In a lesson that reminds us of the deaths of Nadab and Abihu in the beginning of the life of Mosaic Covenant, Ananias and Saphira lose their lives as an act of God’s temporal judgment upon them. Peter, the apostles, and the church did not kill this couple. The church actually buried them both, presumably with humility and respect. Their death was an act of God, a breathtaking judgment that set a standard in the church that the Christian life was not to be one of showy hypocrisy.

The impact of this was substantial. We are told that “great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.” This may sound like a bad thing to our ears, but Luke does not present it in that way. It seems that there was an appropriate awe both within the church and outside of it. The church was a place of serious integrity and of amazing resurrection power. The apostles were performing great signs and wonders, and while people were afraid of them in a way, they also “held them in high esteem.” In addition to that, we are told that “more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women.”

Those who stood firmly against the church took measures to try to stop this forward momentum, but they found that their actions were singularly unsuccessful. Their persecution of the church only seemed to add to the stature of the apostles. Even when these men were placed securely behind prison doors, a messenger from heaven was able to deliver them with the instruction that they should use their freedom to continue to teach “in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life.” This is what they did, and it was a great shock to those who had assumed that they had contained the followers of Jesus Christ with their prohibitions and their prisons.

Something had to be done. The apostles were again brought in for questioning before the ruling religious council in Jerusalem. This group had earlier commanded them not to even speak in the Name of Jesus Christ. We see here an irreconcilable set of directives between heaven and earth. The angelic heavenly messenger gives the command to teach publicly of Christ, the cross, and the resurrection. These earthly authorities prohibit exactly this activity. There is no way to follow both of them. One must be preferred. The apostles had made their choice. In the words of the earthly council, “You have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man's blood upon us.”

They did not deny this charge, but they continued with their teaching before these very men. Their words are still an excellent summary of the very center of Christian teaching, not something that has evolved over centuries or even decades, but a message that was preached immediately, for everyone to consider. Christ died by the hands of men who were very much against Him. God raised Him from the dead, and exalted Him to His own right hand in heaven. This Jesus is now Leader and Savior of His people. He is giving repentance to His Israel, and forgiving their sins. Those who repent and believe in humble obedience to His command are being given the promised Holy Spirit of God. This was the apostolic witness in the face of their enemies.

What could be done with men like this? Some wanted to kill them, but a respected teacher, Gamaliel, later noted as the mentor of Saul of Tarsus, counseled caution, lest they be found to be fighting against God Himself. They still beat the apostles, and renewed their threats against them, but these early leaders of the church considered it a privilege to suffer dishonor for the Name of the Man who died for us, and they kept on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Messiah. Not only do we have much to learn from the worship and kingdom life of the Pentecost church of the early years of Christianity, we also have much to learn from their willingness to suffer dishonor before men for the Name of Jesus. The Christian church is no place for those who want to show other people how generous and noble they are. It is the way for those who have seen and experienced the truth of the cross, and are ready to forsake all in order to have Christ and the kingdom as a gift of God’s grace.