I can remember the first time I studied the story in Acts chapter 5 about Ananias and Sapphira. It was in a Sunday School class at a church I started attending in the Fall in Austin, after "coming back to the Lord as a Prodigal" earlier that Summer. I can remember being struck by the suddenness and severity and the exacting punishment that befell Ananias and his wife when they conspired to lie to the apostles.
Peter tells Ananias that he lied to the Holy Spirit and later on states that he has "not lied to m ean but to God." This is one of the verses in the Bible that builds a foundation for the doctrine of the Trinity. Jehovah is called God, the "Father" that Jesus refers to. There are verses that label Jesus as "Savior and God" ( ), and this is a verse that labels the Holy Spirit as God, making Him the Third Person of the Trinity.
Anyway, I can imagine the fear that swept through the church after these events. Both he and his wife were struck down by an invisible form of instant death. Very strange. I wonder how the apostles felt, dealing with this kind of power. They didn't appear to get power hungry, but it had to be a little strange to go from healing cripples, lepers, and raising dead people to life and suddenly be part of people dying!
It says that they performed many miracles and that they used to meet together in Solomon's Colonnade.
"No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number."
These guys soon became like an elite spiritual force. The high priests were "filled with jealousy" at all this and had the apostles arrested. During the night an angel of the Lord opened the door and led them out. "Go and stand in the temple courts," the angel said, "and tell the people the full message of this new life."
At daybreak they entered the temple courts, as they had been told, and began to teach the people.
It's interesting that they waited until daybreak. That means they probably went home to sleep after they were let out, and met up at the temple in the morning. This is an easy detail to miss, but it probably gives us liberty to know that following the Lord's commands can also have some practical provisions alongside it. They didn't immediately head over the the temple courts, saying, "Yes sir, angel sir." FOr one, there was probably no one in the temple courts in the middle of the night, so no one would hear them, and two they were probably very tired.
Later on these apostles were brought back to the authorities, who had quickly heard that they were no longer in jail and were, in fact, preaching in the temple. They were told to stop preaching in the Name of Jesus and beaten. It says they were "flogged," which is probably a very severe beating. yet the apostles left rejoicing because "they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name."
That is a joy that us modern day believers could share in. For the apostles, it might've been "easier" in a sense (although punishing the flesh ALWAYS hurts), because they still had the public beating and crucifixion of Jesus fresh in their memories. Perhaps this helped them feel less guilty about not stepping up and defending Jesus during His mockery, beating, and trial.
Posted by Doug Van Pelt at November 17, 2005 09:45 AM