Selling your possessions and holding the proceeds in common with other Christians is not a command of Jesus. However, in Mark 10:21, we do read that: “…Jesus, looking at him (a rich young ruler), loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” Of course, that man had just claimed to have perfectly kept the commands of God from his youth! So, Jesus, here, revealed the fallacy of that claim, by showing him that money was his true God. And that is a temptation for all of us!  In Matthew 6:24, Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” 

The early church Christians got that! They served God by selling their possessions in order to help their Christian brothers and sisters in need. And the need was real! Many of the Jews who had come to faith in Jesus didn’t live in Judea. They were just there for the Passover. Yet, no doubt, many remained in order to sit under the apostles’ teaching, thus leaving their farms and businesses behind at great personal cost. There was also economic persecution against the Christians in Jerusalem and Judea. Their costly and sacrificial choice to meet the needs of those that they were gathering daily with in worship and fellowship, speaks of a tenderness for one another and a desire to further the Kingdom of Christ! It’s a beautiful example of the kind of supernaturally-driven generosity that can only come through the operation of the Holy Spirit and faith in Jesus who promises to meet all of our needs.