John Calvin Commentary Acts 5:1

"But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession," — Acts 5:1 (ASV)

The things which Luke has reported until now showed that the company, which was gathered together under the name of Christ, was rather a company of angels than of men. Moreover, it was an incredible virtue that the rich men divested themselves of their own accord, not only of their money but also of their land, to relieve the poor.

But now he shows that Satan had invented a stratagem to get into that holy company, and that under the guise of such excellent virtue, for he has wonderful wiles of hypocrisy to insinuate himself. In this way Satan assaults the Church when he cannot prevail by open war. But we must especially in this place pay attention to the intention of the Holy Spirit.

For in this history He meant to declare, first, how acceptable singleness of heart is to God, and what an abomination hypocrisy is in His sight; and secondly, how greatly He approves the holy and pure order and governance of His Church. For this is the principal point: the punishment with which Ananias and his wife were punished.

As its greatness at that time terrified them all, so it is to us a testimony that God cannot abide this unfaithfulness, when, bearing a show of holiness where there is none, we mock Him contemptibly. For if, having weighed all the circumstances, we are desirous to know the essence of the matter, Luke condemns no other fault in Ananias than this: that he meant to deceive God and the Church with a feigned offering.

Yet there were more evils packed under this dissimulation: the contempt of God, whom he does not fear, though he knew his own wickedness; sacrilegious defrauding, because he keeps back part of that which he professes to be holy to God; perverse vanity and ambition, because he vaunts himself in the presence of men, without paying any attention to God’s judgment; lack of faith, because he would never have acted this way unless he had mistrusted God; the corrupting of a godly and holy order; furthermore, the hypocrisy itself was a great offense.

The act of Ananias made a good appearance, although he had given only half of his land. Nor is this a small virtue for a rich man to bestow half of his goods on the poor; but the sacrifices of the ungodly are an abomination to God (Proverbs 15:8); nor can anything please Him where singleness of heart is lacking.

For this reason Christ considers the two mites offered by the widow more significant than the great sums of others, who out of their great abundance gave some part (Luke 21:2). This is why God makes an example of such sharp punishment in Ananias.

Now, let us note every point by itself. He laid it at the feet of the apostles. Behold, what ambition does! Ananias is ashamed not to be considered one of the best; therefore, although he is greedy for money, yet so that he may gain a reputation among men, he deprives himself of some part of his riches.

Meanwhile, he does not consider that he lies and deceives in the sight of God, and that God will punish this lie. So it is that he honors the apostles’ feet more than God’s eyes. Therefore, we must take good care that when we do well, we do not seek to be praised by the bystanders; and it is not without cause that Christ says that it is profitable for us, when we give our alms, for the left hand to be ignorant of what the right hand does.