Ananias and Sapphira - a prequel

"Eat up, or it will get cold. Why are you waiting ?"

"I was praying, Ananias."

"Oh, Sapphira, to your new god, the one they crucified. Do the dead hear the prayers of the living ?"

"He is not dead. He is alive. He has been resurrected. Peter, and others, have seen him."

"Ah, yes, the uneducated fisherman. Look, we may not like the Romans, but we do have to admire the way they do things, and if there is one thing that they are particularly good at, it is changing men into meat. They make sure that there is no escape from being crucified. So he cannot still be alive. It must be someone pretending to be him."

"Ananias, if only you could believe. These people have seen the marks of the nails which pierced his hands and feet."

  "Me believe ? Never. Sapphira, I see that you have your best clothes on. Are you going out ?"

"Yes, I'm going to visit Miriam."

"Miriam ? But you don't like Miriam. She is always making fun of you because we have no children, and she has so many."  

"Ananias, it is true, and what she used to say really hurt me, but now she follows the Master, and she has changed."

"People never change, you learn that in business."

"Yes they do. John, who was baptizing in the River Jordan, and then the Master, both say that we must change, however hard it is."

"John was a fool. He was too outspoken and he went too far - and paid the price. [1] You have to be careful not to upset the rich and powerful, if you want to get on in this world."  

"Ananias, I wish you could understand. The Master said we must not care about this world. We have to prepare for the next world, and for that we have to change from always thinking about ourselves, to putting other people first. Also we must look for opportunities to be useful to others."

"Is that why you are visiting Miriam, who you say has changed ?"

"Yes, I saw she needed help with the younger children. It is good to help people. The Master told a story about the Good, um, the Good Stranger." [2]  

"Yes, I have heard that Good Stranger story in the marketplace, but we are not in your next world, we are in this world, and we need to eat, and I am about to make a good deal. You know that land on the side of the hill ..."

"Overlooking the sea ? Surely you are not going to buy it. It is useless, too steep for grazing or ploughing. Please don't waste our money. We need money for when we are older, especially with no children to look after us."

"It will be alright, Sapphira."

"How can you be so sure ? Decisions like that definitely need praying over. 'Lord, is this what you want me to do ?' The Master taught people the proper way to pray."

"This doesn't need mumbo-jumbo prayers, sacrifices, or anything else, Sapphira, it just needs good business sense. I have met a Roman centurion and I happen to know that he wants that land. He says it will make a very good amphitheatre for people wanting to worship his favourite Roman god, the sea god Neptune, and because it is steep and facing the sea, it is ideal."

"Oh, Ananias, so you hope to buy it cheap and get lots of money for it, and from the Romans too. I hope you know what you are doing."

"Of course I do, but don't tell anyone, especially Miriam when you see her, or I will have to pay more for it." 

"Ananias, Miriam has told me that the Master now has thousands of followers, and that many of them believe that the Master will return very soon, and so they have decided to help each other, by selling everything they have and letting Peter and the other apostles, the leaders, distribute it equally to everyone." [3]

"Well, that's a crazy idea. It will never work. It has been tried before, what was his name ? Theudas [4], and look what happened to him."

"Yes, but it is working now, although it is not very well organized, and the Greek speaking people have started complaining that the Hebrew speaking Jews get more than their fair share of the daily food hand-outs. [5] It needs someone like you, with your organising skills, to make it work properly."  

"What ? Are you mad, Sapphira ? You want me to become a follower ? What about my reputation ? Do you want me to have a heart attack ? Ah, but I can see through you. If I become a follower, you will be famous because your husband has joined, and since Miriam's husband has not, you would finally get the better of her." 

"No, Ananias, what I pray for is that both of us become not just followers, but believers. That is much more important to me than anything with Miriam."

"Well, Sapphira, I suppose it might actually be a good idea after all, as I will probably be able to find a way for us to get something extra from it. If I have to sell something, it must be something small, not everything we have. We will need to keep back lots for when this crazy idea all goes wrong, as I am sure it will, and for when we are old and I cannot work."

"Work ? You mean when you are not sharp enough for your marketplace dealings, ha. Miriam says that recently a Levite convert, from Cyprus, Joses Barnabas, having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles' feet." [6]

"I thought the Levites weren't supposed to own land, because their job is to work full-time in the temple in Jerusalem. How times have changed. Anyway, I can lay something at the apostles' feet, as you say, to get the profitable job of administering the distribution. I can use that land by the sea. If anyone asks, you must say that I sold the worthless land, as everyone thinks it is, for what I paid for it, and we can keep back the profit, since the fisherman will never know that I sold it to the Romans for much more."

The story concludes in the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 5, verses 1 - 10, KJV, 

1 But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession,  

2 And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles' feet.  

3 But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?  

4 While it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.  

5 And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things.  

6 And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him.  

7 And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in.  

8 And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much.  

9 Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out.  

10 Then fell she down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost: and the young men came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband.  

When Saint Luke wrote the Acts of the Apostles he included Sapphira's name, rather than simply saying "Ananias and his wife," perhaps because Saint Luke felt sorry for the lady who died because she did what her husband told her.  

References

1 Matt 14:8-10

2 Luke 10:30-35 

3 Acts 2:44-45

4 Acts 5:36

5 Acts 6:1

6 Acts 4:36-37