Mark 16:18
they will pick up snakes with their hands, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not harm them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will be made well."
they will pick up snakes with their hands
This phrase evokes the imagery of divine protection and authority over creation. In the Greek, the word for "snakes" (ὄφεις, opheis) can also symbolize evil or danger, as seen in Genesis with the serpent in the Garden of Eden. The act of picking up snakes without harm signifies the triumph of faith over fear and danger. Historically, this can be linked to the Apostle Paul’s experience in Acts 28:3-5, where he was unharmed by a viper. This demonstrates the power of God’s protection over His followers, emphasizing that those who walk in faith are safeguarded against physical and spiritual threats.

if they drink any deadly poison, it will not harm them
The phrase "deadly poison" (θανάσιμον, thanasimon) refers to substances that could cause death. This promise of protection is not an encouragement to test God by deliberately ingesting poison, but rather an assurance of divine safeguarding in the face of unforeseen dangers. The historical context of early Christians facing persecution and potential poisoning underscores the miraculous protection God provides. This reflects the broader biblical theme of God’s providence and care for His people, as seen in Psalm 91:13, where believers are assured of safety from harm.

they will lay their hands on the sick
The laying on of hands is a significant biblical practice symbolizing the transfer of blessing, authority, or healing. In the Greek, "lay their hands" (ἐπιθήσουσιν τὰς χεῖρας, epithēsousin tas cheiras) indicates a deliberate and compassionate act. This practice is rooted in the Old Testament, where hands were laid on sacrifices or individuals to confer blessing or healing (e.g., Leviticus 16:21). In the New Testament, Jesus and the apostles frequently laid hands on the sick, demonstrating God’s power to heal through human agents. This act is a tangible expression of faith and divine intervention.

they will be made well
The phrase "made well" (καλῶς ἕξουσιν, kalōs hexousin) signifies complete healing and restoration. This promise of healing is not merely physical but also spiritual, reflecting the holistic nature of salvation in Christ. The Greek word for "well" implies a state of wellness and wholeness, aligning with the biblical understanding of shalom—peace and completeness. This assurance of healing is a testament to the power of God working through believers, as seen in the ministry of Jesus and the apostles, who healed the sick as a sign of the Kingdom of God breaking into the world. This promise encourages believers to trust in God’s power to restore and renew, both physically and spiritually.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Jesus Christ
The speaker of this promise, Jesus is addressing His disciples after His resurrection, commissioning them for the work ahead.

2. Disciples
The immediate audience of Jesus' words, representing all believers who would follow in their footsteps.

3. Snakes and Poison
Symbolic elements representing danger and harm, which believers are promised protection from.

4. The Sick
Individuals who are afflicted with illness, whom believers are empowered to heal through faith.

5. The Great Commission
The broader context of Jesus' instructions to His disciples to spread the Gospel and perform signs in His name.
Teaching Points
Divine Protection
Believers are assured of God's protection in their mission, symbolized by the handling of snakes and drinking poison without harm.

Faith and Miracles
The passage encourages believers to have faith in God's power to perform miracles, such as healing the sick.

Symbolism of Snakes and Poison
These elements represent spiritual and physical dangers that believers may encounter, but they are not to be feared.

Role of Believers
Christians are called to be active participants in God's work, using the gifts and authority given to them to impact the world positively.

Trust in God's Promises
This verse is a reminder to trust in the promises of God, knowing that He equips and protects those who serve Him.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the promise of protection in Mark 16:18 encourage you in your daily walk with Christ?

2. In what ways can the symbolism of snakes and poison be applied to modern-day challenges faced by believers?

3. How does the example of Paul in Acts 28:3-6 reinforce the message of Mark 16:18?

4. What role does faith play in the healing of the sick, as mentioned in Mark 16:18 and James 5:14-15?

5. How can you actively participate in the Great Commission, trusting in the protection and power promised in Mark 16:18?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Luke 10:19
Jesus gives His disciples authority over serpents and scorpions, emphasizing divine protection.

Acts 28:3-6
Paul survives a viper bite, illustrating the fulfillment of Jesus' promise of protection.

James 5:14-15
Encourages the practice of laying hands on the sick and praying for healing, aligning with the promise of healing in Mark 16:18.

Psalm 91:13
Speaks of treading on lions and serpents, symbolizing God's protection over His faithful.

Matthew 28:18-20
The Great Commission, where Jesus commands His disciples to go and make disciples of all nations, promising His presence and power.
Signs Unnecessary NowAbbott.Mark 16:18
The Helpfulness of FaithPhillips Brooks, D. D.Mark 16:18
The Privileges of BelieversPhillips Brooks, D. D.Mark 16:18
The Promise to BelieversPhillips Brooks, D. D.Mark 16:18
The Safety of FaithPhillips Brooks, D. D.Mark 16:18
The Secret of the Believer's HelpfulnessPhillips Brooks, D. D.Mark 16:18
An Eventful DayJ.J. Given Mark 16:1-18
The ResurrectionR. Green Mark 16:1-18
Effects of UncertaintyBeecher.Mark 16:14-20
The Departing SaviourJ. A. Seiss, D. D.Mark 16:14-20
Upbraided ThemW. Denton, M. A.Mark 16:14-20
Final UtterancesE. Johnson Mark 16:15-18
People
James, Jesus, Mary, Peter, Salome
Places
Galilee, Jerusalem, Nazareth
Topics
Ailing, Deadly, Drink, Evil, Hands, Harm, Hurt, Ill, Infirm, Injure, Lay, Pick, Poison, Recover, Serpents, Sick, Snakes, Venomous, Whatever, Wise
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Mark 16:18

     4687   snake
     5132   biting
     7372   hands, laying on

Mark 16:15-18

     8020   faith

Mark 16:17-18

     1416   miracles, nature of
     2012   Christ, authority
     5333   healing
     7953   mission, of church
     8105   assurance, basis of

Mark 16:17-20

     8427   evangelism, kinds of

Library
The World-Wide Commission
'Every creature.'--Mark xvi. 15. The missionary enterprise has been put on many bases. People do not like commandments, but yet it is a great relief and strength to come back to one, and answer all questions with 'He bids me!' Now, these words of our Lord open up the whole subject of the Universality of Christianity. I. The divine audacity of Christianity. Take the scene. A mere handful of men, whether 'the twelve' or 'the five hundred brethren' is immaterial. How they must have recoiled when they
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Enthroned Christ
'So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, He was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.'--Mark xvi. 19. How strangely calm and brief is this record of so stupendous an event! Do these sparing and reverent words sound to you like the product of devout imagination, embellishing with legend the facts of history? To me their very restrainedness, calmness, matter-of-factness, if I may so call it, are a strong guarantee that they are the utterance of an eyewitness, who verily saw
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Perpetual Youth
'And entering Into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment.'--Mark xvi. 5. Many great truths concerning Christ's death, and its worth to higher orders of being, are taught by the presence of that angel form, clad in the whiteness of his own God-given purity, sitting in restful contemplation in the dark house where the body of Jesus had lain. 'Which things the angels desire to look into.' Many precious lessons of consolation and hope, too, lie
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Love's Triumph Over Sin
'Tell His disciples and Peter that He goeth before yon into Galilee.--Mark xvi, 7. This prevailing tradition of Christian antiquity ascribes this Gospel to John Mark, sister's son to Barnabas, and affirms that in composing it he was in some sense the 'interpreter' of the Apostle Peter. Some confirmation of this alleged connection between the Evangelist and the Apostle may be gathered from the fact that the former is mentioned by the latter as with him when he wrote his First Epistle. And, in the
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Incredulous Disciples
'And when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint Him. 2. And very early in the morning, the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun. 3. And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre? 4. And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great. 6. And entering into the sepulchre, they saw
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Angel in the Tomb
'They saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were aifrighted. 6. And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted. Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: He is risen; He is not here; behold the place where they laid Him.'--Mark xvi. 5,6. Each of the four Evangelists tells the story of the Resurrection from his own special point of view. None of them has any record of the actual fact, because no eye saw it. Before the earthquake and the angelic descent,
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Christ Crowned, the Fact
"When God sought a King for His people of old, He went to the fields to find him; A shepherd was he, with his crook and his lute And a following flock behind him. "O love of the sheep, O joy of the lute, And the sling and the stone for battle; A shepherd was King, the giant was naught, And the enemy driven like cattle. "When God looked to tell of His good will to men, And the Shepherd-King's son whom He gave them; To shepherds, made meek a-caring for sheep, He told of a Christ sent to save them.
by S. D. Gordon—Quiet Talks on the Crowned Christ of Revelation

Baptismal Regeneration
Our Lord having thus given us an insight into the character of the persons whom he has chosen to proclaim his truth, then goes on to deliver to the chosen champions, their commission for the Holy War. I pray you mark the words with solemn care. He sums up in a few words the whole of their work, and at the same time foretells the result of it, telling them that some would doubtless believe and so be saved, and some on the other hand would not believe and would most certainly, therefore, be damned,
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 10: 1864

Unbelievers Upbraided
On Thursday Evening, June 8th, 1876. "He . . . upbraided them with their unbelief."--Mark 16:14. I SHALL not dwell so much upon this particular instance of the disciples' unbelief as upon the fact that the Lord Jesus upbraided them because of it. This action of his shows us the way in which unbelief is to be treated by us. As our loving Saviour felt it to be right rather to upbraid than to console, he taught us that on some occasions, unbelief should be treated with severity rather than with condolence.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 50: 1904

Sermon for Ascension Day
This third sermon on the Ascension tells us how man ought continually to follow after Christ, as He has walked before us for three and thirty years, passing through manifold and great sufferings, before He returned unto His Father. Mark xvi. 19.--"So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, He was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God." AFTER the Son of God, Jesus Christ, had eaten with His disciples upon the Mount of Olives, and reproved them, that they had been so long time
Susannah Winkworth—The History and Life of the Reverend Doctor John Tauler

The Necessity of Faith for Justification
1. THE LUTHERAN HERESY VS. THE TEACHING OF THE CHURCH.--The Protestant Reformers, notably Luther and Calvin, did not deny that justification is wrought by faith, but they defined justifying faith in a manner altogether foreign to the mind of the Church. a) They distinguished three kinds of faith: (1) belief in the existence of God and the historical fact that Christ has come on earth, suffered, and ascended (fides historica); (2) the sort of trust which is required for exercising the gift of miracles
Joseph Pohle—Grace, Actual and Habitual

Fifth Appearance of Jesus.
(Jerusalem. Sunday Evening) ^B Mark XVI. 14; ^C Luke XXIV. 36-43; ^D John XX. 19-25. ^b 14 And afterward ^c as they spake these things [while the two from Emmaus were telling their story] , ^b he was manifested unto the eleven themselves as they sat at meat; ^d 19 When therefore it was evening, on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus ^c himself ^d came and stood in the midst, ^c of them, and saith unto them, Peace
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Third and Fourth Appearances of Jesus.
(Sunday Afternoon.) ^B Mark XVI. 12, 13; ^C Luke XXIV. 13-35; ^E I. Cor. XV. 5. ^b 12 And after these things he was manifested in another form [i. e., another manner] unto two of them, as they walked, on their way into the country. ^c 13 And behold, two of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus [Several sites have been suggested, but the village of Emmaus has not yet been identified beyond dispute. Its location is probably marked by the ruins called el Kubeibeh, which lies northwest
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Ascension.
(Olivet, Between Jerusalem and Bethany.) ^B Mark XVI. 19, 20; ^C Luke XXIV. 50-53; ^E Acts I. 9-12. ^b 19 So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken unto them, ^e 9 And when he had said these things, ^c he led them out until they were over against Bethany: and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them. 51 And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he parted from them [it is significant that our Lord's gesture, when last seen of men, was one of blessing], and ^e as they were looking, he was taken
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Obedience to the Last Command
Go ye therefore and make disciples of all the nations.' --Matt. 28:19. Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.'--Mark 16:15. #8216;As Thou didst send Me into the world, even so send I them into the world' -- John 17:18; 20:21. Ye shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be My witnesses unto the uttermost parts of the earth.'--Acts 1:8. All these words breathe nothing less than the spirit of world conquest. All the nations,' all the world,'
Andrew Murray—The School of Obedience

Baptism, a Divinely Appointed Means of Grace.
When we inquire into the benefits and blessings which the Word of God connects with baptism, we must be careful to obtain the true sense and necessary meaning of its declarations. It is not enough to pick out an isolated passage or two, give them a sense of our own, and forthwith build on them a theory or doctrine. In this way the Holy Scriptures have been made to teach and support the gravest errors and most dangerous heresies. In this way, many persons "wrest the Scriptures to their own destruction."
G. H. Gerberding—The Way of Salvation in the Lutheran Church

Of the Places of Burial.
There were more common and more noble sepulchres. The common were in public burying-places, as it is with us: but they were without the city. "And through that place was no current of waters to be made; through it was to be no public way; cattle were not to feed there, nor was wood to be gathered from thence." "Nor was it lawful to walk among the sepulchres with phylacteries fastened to their heads, nor with the book of the law hanging at their arm." Some sepulchres were extraordinary; that is, in
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica

Baptism.
Literature. The commentaries on Matt. 28:19; Mark 16:16; John 3:5; Acts 2:38; 8:13, 16, 18, 37; Rom. 6:4; Gal. 3:27; Tit. 3:5; 1 Pet 3:21. G. J. Vossius: De Baptismo Disputationes XX. Amsterdam, 1648. W. Wall (Episcopalian): The History of Infant Baptism (a very learned work), first published in London, 1705, 2 vols., best edition by H. Cotton, Oxford, 1836, 4 vols., and 1862, 2 vols., together with Gale's (Baptist)Reflections and Wall's Defense. A Latin translation by Schlosser appeared, vol. I.,
Philip Schaff—History of the Christian Church, Volume I

Christ Risen
"And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him. And very early on the first day of the week, they come to the tomb when the sun was risen. And they were saying among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the tomb? and looking up, they see that the stone is rolled back: for it was exceeding great. And entering into the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, arrayed in
G. A. Chadwick—The Gospel of St. Mark

The Ascension
"So then the Lord Jesus, after He had spoken unto them, was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word by the signs that followed. Amen." MARK 16:19-20 (R.V.) WE have reached the close of the great Gospel of the energies of Jesus, His toils, His manner, His searching gaze, His noble indignation, His love of children, the consuming zeal by virtue of which He was not more truly the
G. A. Chadwick—The Gospel of St. Mark

Of Baptism.
1. Baptism defined. Its primary object. This consists of three things. 1. To attest the forgiveness of sins. 2. Passages of Scripture proving the forgiveness of sins. 3. Forgiveness not only of past but also of future sins. This no encouragement to license in sin. 4 Refutation of those who share forgiveness between Baptism and Repentance. 5 Second thing in Baptism--viz. to teach that we are ingrafted into Christ for mortification and newness of life. 6. Third thing in Baptism--viz. to teach us that
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

Dispute with Whitefield
1741. Sunday, February 1.--A private letter, written to me by Mr. Whitefield, was printed without either his leave or mine, and a great numbers of copies were given to our people, both at the door and in the Foundry itself. Having procured one of them, I related (after preaching) the naked fact to the congregation and told them, "I will do just what I believe Mr. Whitefield would, were he here himself." Upon which I tore it in pieces before them all. Everyone who had received it, did the same. So
John Wesley—The Journal of John Wesley

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