“Did Jesus turn water into an alcoholic beverage?”

Sunday, August 06, 2017

In John the second chapter, we find the story where Jesus went to a wedding in Cana of Galilee. We know that with any wedding there is going to be planning. For some reason, the master of the event (verse 9) found himself in an awkward situation – they ran out of wine (verse 3). Mary came right out and said “They have no wine.”

Jesus performed a miracle and turned the water into wine. There were six water pots that each held twenty to thirty gallons. It is safe to say that Jesus easily made between 120-160 gallons of wine (verse 6). Did the guests, including our Lord, have even more alcoholic wine to drink now after having already consumed all the alcoholic wine that was available earlier?

I have made the statement on more than one occasion that if anyone thinks Jesus made alcoholic beverages at the wedding feast, they do not know Jesus. By this I mean that they do not know what He taught concerning intoxicating, alcoholic wine. Jesus did not warn people about the abuse of wine, He spoke about drinking it. Christ, speaking through the Holy Spirit to Peter, discussed the three levels of transgression relating to drinking. First was drunkenness, then revelries (i.e. the life of the party) and finally drinking parties (I Pet. 4:3). If there was truly so much alcoholic wine at the wedding feast, would it not fit the description of a drinking party?

Some would argue that the word “wine” in the Bible always refers to fermented grape juice. If this is true, then the Bible is not just permitting us to consume alcohol but encouraging us to consume in moderation. This could not be any further from the truth. The John 2 text should be sufficient to settle that dispute, but we shall consider some other facts.

If all grape juice was fermented, how could the elders in a local church logically be forbidden to drink any wine (I Tim. 3:3)? Would this not mean that they could not partake of the Lord’s Supper (I Cor. 11:23-26)? [Questions about deacons will be dealt with in the second article (I Tim. 3:8)]. The verses regarding elders lead to a logical conclusion that wine in the Bible can be fermented or non-fermented.

A passage that does deal clearly with fermented wine is Proverbs 23. Look what is stated by inspiration of God: “Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? Those who linger long at the wine, those who go in search of mixed wine. Do not look on the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it swirls around smoothly; at last it bits like a serpent, and stings like a viper,” (verses 29-32). This is obviously a warning to those who are interested in alcoholic wine. The message is clear – do not even look at it! If our Savior made close to 150 gallons, it clearly must have been non-alcoholic.

Getting back to the New Testament, some contend that Christians drank fermented wine based upon I Corinthians 11:21. The text speaks about the abuse of the Lord’s Supper and how they turned it into a feast. Some would eat ahead of others while others were hungry and still others were drunk. Then Paul tells them to eat and drink at home (verse 22). The word “drunk” here means “to be filled.” The word can be used to describe one who is intoxicated, but this is not the only use. In context, Paul was contrasting those who had much to eat and drink with those who had little. Lord willing, next week I will devote another article to this subject.

Chuck                                                                                        

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