Acts 5:11

And great fear came upon all the church, &c.--This effect on the Christian community itself was the chief design of so startling a judgment; which had its counterpart, as the sin itself had, in Achan (Jos. 7:1-26), while the time--at the commencement of a new career--was similar.

In this chapter we have, I. The sin and punishment of Ananias and Sapphira, who, for lying to the Holy Ghost, were struck dead at the word of Peter (Act 5:1-11). II. The flourishing state of the church, in the power that went along with the preaching of the gospel (Act 5:12-16). III. The imprisonment of the apostles, and their miraculous discharge out of prison, with fresh orders to go on to preach the gospel, which they did, to the great vexation of their persecutors (Act 5:17-26). IV. Their arraignment before the great sanhedrim, and their justification of themselves in what they did (Act 5:27-33). V. Gamaliel's counsel concerning them, that they should not persecute them, but let them alone, and see what would come of it, and their concurrence, for the present, with this advice, in the dismission of the apostles' cheerful progress in their work notwithstanding the prohibition laid upon them and the indignity done them (Act 5:41, Act 5:42).

5:11 Great fear gripped the entire church and everyone else who heard what had happened: The sudden judgment on Ananias and then on Sapphira had a sobering effect on both the Christian community and those who heard about this incident (cp. Heb 10:31). Believers were forcefully reminded that they needed to be pure, and for non-Christians the believers’ integrity was reestablished, so that once again “all the people had high regard for them” (Acts 5:13). Yet it also made outsiders wary of joining a movement with such high standards (5:13). This divine “pruning” (see John 15:1-11) helped new growth to follow (Acts 5:14; cp. 6:5-7; 11:24; 21:20).