Handling Snakes

Mark 16:18 “…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."

I always struggle with this verse, especially since I have a great aversion to snakes. I don’t even like to see them at the zoo behind glass. I once had to kill a snake in my garden, which was bothering my dog. Fortunately, I had a pitch fork in my hand at the time before it could strike. I don’t know what kind it was, but I was sweating with fear when it was all over.

This verse makes me cringe, but also makes me ask why did Mark think it was so necessary to write about this? Because it comes right at the end of the gospel, some people have suggested that these final verses were written much later and did not appear in Mark’s original version. But it still doesn’t answer my question: why is it there in the first place?

I guess it puzzles me that Christians, in order to prove their faith, would use this passage to handle poisonous snakes and drink lethal liquids. Every year, someone is killed in the backwoods of Kentucky, Arkansas, or even Tennessee because they’ve been handling snakes to prove that they are Christians. It seems to me that if we want to prove ourselves as Christians, we’ve got to handle things like shame, guilt, and forgiveness; we’ve got to swallow statements like love another, love your neighbor, and love your enemies. Those are far more radical testimonies about our faith than handling snakes and drinking poison.

Today, wherever we go and whosoever we met, let’s practice radical Christianity by helping those we don’t like, giving to those charities that we don’t approve, and forgiving those who keep hurting us. Or would we rather just quietly handle our own pet snakes?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, our faith challenges our lifestyle choices and daily decisions. You want us to be radical reformers who use faith as a means to influence our communities and bring people to God. Enable us to genuinely testify to Your power in our lives through the beneficial deeds that we undertake and accomplish in Your Holy Name. Amen.