Is Jesus condoning life-threatening activities?
They will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison,
it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.
Mark 16:18
The last part of the book of Mark is a controversial section of Scripture that is absent from most early manuscripts. What our modern Bible has as the last 12 verses of Chapter 16 (vs. 9-20), do not mesh well with the rest of the book’s style, content, and Greek vocabulary. Included in this section is the verse where Jesus told His disciples that they could pick up snakes and drink poison, yet they wouldn’t be harmed.
This questionable practice can still be found in some Pentecostal Holiness churches, which emerged out of the Methodist denomination in the 1800s. They place great emphasis on these acts as a demonstration of their faith. Unfortunately, many have died over the years which, in my opinion, was completely unnecessarily.
First of all, does this sound like anything Jesus would encourage us to do? There are no examples of Jesus or God telling anyone to drink poison.
One of the verses used to defend snake handling is Luke 10:19: “I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.” One could easily argue that this verse is instead talking about spiritual forces, since it is mentioned in the context of “the power of the enemy”. Further, in the previous verse the disciples are talking about demons submitting to them in Jesus’ name. While my wife might think the Devil uses literal snakes and scorpions along with demons to do his bidding, I don’t believe this is what Jesus is saying in this verse!
Another Scripture used as justification is the story of the snake biting Paul when he was stranded on the island of Malta (Acts 28:1-6). He shook the snake off in the fire and was unharmed. The problem is, the viper “fastened itself on his hand”. Paul didn’t pick it up.
So why is this passage still in our modern-day Bible? Apparently, it appeared in enough old manuscripts to warrant its inclusion today. Perhaps because verse eight ended so abruptly, someone added the extra verses. Or maybe the original ending was lost. Regardless, your Bible should have a clear footnote about this questionable passage. My suggestion: don’t pick up deadly snakes and don’t drink poison.
Simple words to live by that stand in contrast to today’s verse:
Do not put the Lord your God to the test.
Deuteronomy 6:16; Matthew 4:7