Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11)

A man named Ananias, however, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property.  2 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.  3 But 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?  4 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.”  5 When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last, and great fear came upon all who heard of it.  6 The young men came and wrapped him up, then carried him out and buried him.  7 After an interval of about three hours, his wife came in, unaware of what had happened.  8 Peter said to her, “Tell me, did you sell the land for this amount?” She answered, “Yes, for that amount.” 9 Then Peter said to her, “Why did you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen, the footsteps of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.”  10 At once, she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men entered they found her dead, so they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.  11 And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.  

Even though the Christian community described in Acts 2:42-47 and Acts 4:32-37 seemed unified, generous, and devoted to God, some followers of the Way (Acts 9:2) were not sincere in their faith (Heb. 6:4-6).  Ananias and Sapphira tried to imitate Barnabas who voluntarily sold property and gave the money to the apostles to distribute. There was no obligation for members of the community to sell their property and give all or part of the proceeds to support the community.  Through avarice, Ananias and Sapphira, whose hearts had turned away from God, withheld part of the purchase price and tried to deceive the apostles and the Holy Spirit that they had donated all of the proceeds to the community.  

Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, questioned Ananias about his deceitful actions.  Peter understood Ananias’ attempt to deceive as a test of the Holy Spirit by Satan, “the father of lies (Jn. 8:44).”  It was a lie to the Apostles and a consequentially more dangerous lie to the Holy Spirit.  Ananias had free will to decide what to do with his property and its proceeds.  His sin was not in keeping some of the proceeds but in lying about it in an effort to deceive God.  The consequences were severe as Ananias fell dead upon hearing Peter’s words.  He was quickly buried.  Those in the community who witnessed or heard about the event were overcome with fear.  The early Christian community was substantially influenced by Jewish customs and beliefs, one of which was the prompt burial of the deceased.  Another reason for quick burial in early Christian communities was their faith and belief in the resurrection

Sapphira was unaware of what happened to her husband, and Peter gave her the opportunity to turn away from the evil in her heart and tell the truth, but she chose to continue the lie and suffered the same fate as her husband.  It was not Peter who judged and sentenced Sapphira but God.  Deceit and hypocrisy were not tolerated within the Christian community.  Honesty and integrity are demanded within the community of believers.  The term church was used by Jesus in reference to the community of believers in Matthew (Mt. 16:18; 18:17).  The community in Jerusalem was first referred to as a church in Acts (v. 11).  The Church was being persecuted from the outside (Acts 8:1-3) but it was being shaped and preserved internally by the Spirit.

Almighty and ever-living God, grant us the courage to live with honesty and integrity in all our actions so that we do not fall into deceit that leads to destruction.  Let your Spirit enlighten our minds and hearts so that we may serve you in Spirit and truth.  This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!

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References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.

                Orchard, Bernard, et al. A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture. Feb. 1953.