The Dangers Of Hypocrisy Series

After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. And Peter said to her, ‘Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.’ And she said, ‘Yes, for so much.’ But Peter said to her, ‘How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.’ Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.”

There are several characters mentioned in this narrative – a married couple named Ananias and Sapphira, the Apostle Peter, a few young men, and the whole church. In order to help us better understand this passage, imagine I’m one of the young men (I realize that’s a stretch, especially after my spinning story). I’m going to retell this narrative from his perspective.

In order to get a full sense of what happened it’s important to set this text in context. Chapter 4 ends by celebrating how Barnabas sold a field and laid the proceeds at the apostle’s feet. It was pretty cool how God’s people willingly gave of their possessions to help the poor among us. The unity we experienced along with a sense of purpose was palpable. Verse 33 describes how “great power” and “great grace” were at work among us. I hung out with ‘my people’ every chance I could get. You do the same, right?

Acts 5:1 begins with “But,” which is a word of contrast. Barnabas was looked up to for his extravagant generosity. Ananias and Sapphira wanted to get some props as well. They too had a piece of property and sold it, but instead of giving the entire amount, they kept some back for themselves. The phrase “kept back” means “to embezzle or pilfer.” They made a pretense of giving all the proceeds. I was reminded of what Jesus said about holy hypocrites in Matthew 23:5: “They do all their deeds to be seen by others.”

I’ll never forget the pride on his face when he placed a pile of shekels at the apostles’ feet. Instead of getting applause, Peter called him out for his hypocrisy. I’m not sure how he knew but he did somehow. I was shocked by how bold he was: “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land?”

No matter how old we are or how long we’ve been walking with Christ, Satan is always tempting us to sin. The name “Satan” means, “adversary.” Like Paul says in Ephesians 6, the battle we all fight is not in physical places but in spiritual spaces.

Peter was quick to say Ananias didn’t have to sell the land and even if he chose to sell it, he didn’t have to give all of it to the church. The problem was he had lied about it. He was trying to put a ‘spin’ on his sin. In his hypocrisy, he was trying to hide his heart. It’s interesting Peter says Satan filled his heart to lie but he also says that Ananias “contrived this deed” in his own heart. Satan deceived but Ananias did the deed. The same is true for us. Satan may tempt us, but we can’t blame him when we sin.