This passage of Scripture brings a lot of bewilderment to most people for what it means to serve Christ. There is a small group of churches in Appalachia (130-140) that practices snake handling as part of their worship service. They say if you get bit and die then you did not have enough faith.
This idea is repugnant to most Christians. Yet the Bible plainly says that a person can take up a snake or drink some poison and it will not hurt the person. Then this verse says the believers would lay hands on the sick and they would recover.
Are we missing the boat as to what it is to have faith in Christ? Are we so afraid that we will not even attempt such a thing? What is the answer?
This verse as well as a few others at the end of the book of Mark were spoken directly to disciples. It was their commission to spread the word of salvation. Of necessity, they preached about the resurrection of Christ. They who would go to another culture and talk about resurrection from the dead would not be accepted. They likely would be mocked and rejected.
Those that were sent out by Christ had to have some means of validating their message of resurrection. They could say that a man in another country at another time came back from the dead. No one would believe it! However, if in their preaching they had divine validation of the message, that would make a lot of difference.
For a believer to tell an unbeliever about Christ’s resurrection and then cast out devils or speak in their native tongue, proof was in the scene. The Scripture does not say that a disciple is to seek out a poison drink. If they should happen to drink something unhealthy, they would be protected by God as part of their service to him.
It is similar to what happened when Jesus spoke with the woman at the well in Samaria. She believed that he was the Messiah. She went into town broadcasting the message that the Messiah was outside at the well. This caused great excitement. When the citizens of the town went out to meet Jesus, they believed telling the woman that they had personal experience and their faith was not just from her testimony. (John 4)
This is not meant in any way for modern Christians that they should test God for putting themselves in danger. The laws of nature stand regardless of anyone’s good intention. Furthermore, a religion cannot be built on one verse in the Bible. This authorization from Jesus was to the disciples at that time and in no way applies to us! The amplified Bible says, “our witness should center on Jesus, not on superhero type stunts.”
Christian Writer 