The Art of Ananias & Sapphira

In this essay, we are looking at the literary artistry of the story of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5.

By the time we get to this account in the book of Acts, the Spirit has descended on the church at Pentecost, much like the hovering, creating Spirit in Genesis 1, and the church is expanding rapidly. Up to this point there has been external conflict, but this is the first scene of internal conflict that Luke shows us.

Here are the first two verses of Acts 5:

But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, and with his wife’s knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only part of it and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

Just like Adam and Eve vying for knowledge in the beginning, here, with Sapphira’s knowledge, Ananias takes what is not his. He had sold property for the church, but brought only part of the money to the apostles.

The Deceit of Satan and the Lie to God

Now, for the first time in our scene, a character speaks. Here are verses 3 and 4:

But Peter said, “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? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.”

Peter addresses Ananias and tells us that his action was not a minor fib, but the work of Satan—in fact, the only explicit action of Satan recorded in the book of Acts. And this Satanic-inspired action was to lie directly to the Holy Spirit.

Only a few verses before our story, Luke tells us that the church had “one heart.” That stands in stark contrast to Ananias’s heart, which is filled with deceit. The Spirit filled the heart of the church, while Satan has filled Ananias’s heart.

Peter asks five probing questions of Ananias, to which Ananias offers no response. Peter indicates that this act is a lie to God and the Holy Spirit. It is here that we uncover the true nature of the evil. It was not that Ananias owned property or possessed money; it was that he lied to God. If we make explicit what is implicit in the text, Ananias had committed to giving this property to God, but then lied and kept part of the proceeds for himself.

Here are the next two verses:

When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it. The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him.

A New Conquest and a Holy God

Now, this narrative is included not merely to give us a simple moral lesson about honesty. If this story sounds familiar to you, then you have good Bible senses. This account is remarkably similar to the story of Achan and the battle of Ai in the book of Joshua, and that similarity is entirely intentional. This passage deliberately alludes to that narrative.

The story of Achan was about the conquest of the land God had given Israel, and our text in Acts is as well. But notice that the conquest has taken on a completely different character here: the land is given away from one brother to another. The reason this passage alludes to the story of Achan is to show us that this little church is the new Israel undergoing a new conquest, and that God is still the very same holy God.

Luke continues in the next verses:

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.

Divided in Heart and Wealth at the Apostles’ Feet

Notice that Luke decided to tell the story of Ananias and Sapphira in two distinct parts: first Ananias, and then Sapphira. Why do that? Why not simply tell them together? Their actions are essentially identical; Luke could easily have summarized: “Ananias and Sapphira lied to the Holy Spirit, and they both died.”

Why tell the events separately? If you recall, just a few verses before our passage Luke described how the church had one heart and soul and had everything in common. Ananias and Sapphira represent the exact opposite: they are divided. Luke has separated their stories because they themselves are fundamentally separated. Their deception has divided them.

Notice that Luke told us Sapphira had knowledge of what her husband was doing, yet she had no knowledge of his death. Their deception separated them from God, from their property, and ultimately from each other. And with a dark note, Luke tells us that they are buried together only when unity no longer matters.

Because they refused to lay their money honestly at the feet of the apostles, they themselves end up lying dead at those feet. Interestingly, the very same Greek word used twice earlier for bringing the proceeds to the apostles is used when Ananias and Sapphira are brought out dead. Indeed, they themselves are the true wealth that should have been dedicated and laid at the feet.

Ananias’s name means “God has favored,” and Sapphira means “sapphire.” And so this wealthy couple unwillingly lays their true wealth—themselves—at the feet of the apostles.

And that, my friends, is why the Bible is art.

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