Did Jesus Drink Alcohol?

[Spirithound]

All right. I just thought you were using apples to prove oranges.

What about the verse where Jesus says that the Pharisees accused Him of being a drunkard because he drank wine?

I think that verse sort of proves that the wine Jesus was accustomed to drinking was fermented. How could he be accused of being a drunkard otherwise?

If the Pharisees accused Jesus of being a drunkard for drinking wine, would that indicate that they didn’t drink wine?

 

[NotWorthy]

If the Pharisees accused Jesus of being a drunkard for drinking wine, would that indicate that they didn’t drink wine?

I think it would indicate that they were hypocrites.

 

[Joe_5859]

The Jewish law requires that all Sabbaths be celebrated with the “fruit of the vine.” It does not mandate fermented or nonfermented, but it DOES say that it needs to be cut with water to make it safe for children to drink (implying strong alcoholic content).

Israel has growing seasons. Grapes are harvested in September. Harvested grapes that have not been squeezed rot within a week. Grape juice that has not been intentionally fermented will ferment on its own in three days, generally with distasteful results.

Sometimes they had droughts and famines, and lost the entire grape crop for the year. “Fruit of the vine” needed to be set aside well in advance for weekly Sabbath use.

Ordinary Israelites in Jesus’ time did not have refrigerators, nor could they afford FedEx overnight delivery. For that matter, neither could the rich.

Passover - when the Last Supper was celebrated - falls in March. This is six months after the grape harvest.

THEREFORE: Jesus HAD to use fermented wine at the Last Supper.

Want one final proof?

Mt 11:18-19 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon’; the Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Behold, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’

Lk 7:33-34 For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine; and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of man has come eating and drinking; and you say, ‘Behold, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’

I just thought this post deserved to be highlighted again. It quite thoroughly refutes the notion that the wine Jesus drank did not have alcohol in it. Good job!

 

[Ignatius]

My mother in law was trying to tell me that the wine jesus drank did not include alcohal and was just grape juice. is this true? I have never really heard that before. just checking to see what others think.
.

Where in the Bible does it say Jesus drank nonalcoholic wine? There was no such thing as nonalcoholic wine.

1. Deuteronomy tells how wine is to be made; it is kosher and it is alcoholic.
2. Jews only drank kosher wine.

Also, here is some logic to determine if it is even possible:

1. The grape harvest is in the fall.
2. The only means of preservation in biblical times was fermentation and that produced fully alcoholic wine in a matter of a few weeks.
3. The Passover, when the Last Supper occurred, was about the April time frame; Therefore the wine would have been fully fermented by the time of the Passover.

 

[Nan_S]

Where in the Bible does it say Jesus drank nonalcoholic wine? There was no such thing as nonalcoholic wine.

1. Deuteronomy tells how wine is to be made; it is kosher and it is alcoholic.
2. Jews only drank kosher wine.

Also, here is some logic to determine if it is even possible:

1. The grape harvest is in the fall.
2. The only means of preservation in biblical times was fermentation and that produced fully alcoholic wine in a matter of a few weeks.
3. The Passover, when the Last Supper occurred, was about the April time frame; Therefore the wine would have been fully fermented by the time of the Passover.

What some teetotaling Protestant groups want to believe is that Jesus drank only “new wine”, i.e, freshly squeezed juice. I even knew one who argued that Jesus would do the water-to-wine miracle whenever necessary to avoid the alcohol. He was young and enthusiastic, and hadn’t thought things through very well…

As far as proving the argument by timing the harvest, we have only to look at the growing seasons that exist today in the Holy Land, taking note of which crops ripen when, and compare them to the growing seasons as described in the Old Testament. The seasons are the same.

The Jews had harvest festivals throughout the year, and at each festival were to offer a specific type of “first fruit” of that particular harvest. See Leviticus Chapter 23. (My Protestant NIV Study Bible has a wonderful chart that summarizes all the feasts with their scripture references. God, I LOVE using my Protestant NIV Bible to prove Catholic teaching. )

So the fact that Jesus had to use fermented wine at the Last Supper is very easy to prove.

 

[Nan_S]

I just thought this post deserved to be highlighted again. It quite thoroughly refutes the notion that the wine Jesus drank did not have alcohol in it. Good job!

Thank you, thank you. :tiphat:

 

[peary]

What some teetotaling Protestant groups want to believe is that Jesus drank only “new wine”, i.e, freshly squeezed juice. I even knew one who argued that Jesus would do the water-to-wine miracle whenever necessary to avoid the alcohol. He was young and enthusiastic, and hadn’t thought things through very well…

As far as proving the argument by timing the harvest, we have only to look at the growing seasons that exist today in the Holy Land, taking note of which crops ripen when, and compare them to the growing seasons as described in the Old Testament. The seasons are the same.

The Jews had harvest festivals throughout the year, and at each festival were to offer a specific type of “first fruit” of that particular harvest. See Leviticus Chapter 23. (My Protestant NIV Study Bible has a wonderful chart that summarizes all the feasts with their scripture references. God, I LOVE using my Protestant NIV Bible to prove Catholic teaching. )

So the fact that Jesus had to use fermented wine at the Last Supper is very easy to prove.

**Not only that, there is thousands of years of archeological evidence that prove that wine was made since at least 6000 BC. **

 

[Joe_5859]

**Not only that, there is thousands of years of archeological evidence that prove that wine was made since at least 6000 BC. **

I wonder how much a bottle of that wine would go for!

 

[Spirithound]

I wonder how much a bottle of that wine would go for!

You know, I’ve always wondered whether there is an upper limit as to how much wine can improve with age…

 

[Jolly_Joe]

Oh yes. Wine does not continue to improve indefinitely. Depends on how it’s made. Some wines start to get worse after only a short time, some can last a couple of hundred years potentially, if the cork holds out.

What would actually have been typical in biblical times, was wine got worse with age… Remember, no glass bottles, no wine casks. Instead it was stored in skins. And wine stored in skins can be said to not generally improve with age.

They drank an awful lot of vinegar.

JJ

 

[peary]

Oh yes. Wine does not continue to improve indefinitely. Depends on how it’s made. Some wines start to get worse after only a short time, some can last a couple of hundred years potentially, if the cork holds out.

What would actually have been typical in biblical times, was wine got worse with age… Remember, no glass bottles, no wine casks. Instead it was stored in skins. And wine stored in skins can be said to not generally improve with age.

They drank an awful lot of vinegar.

JJ

Maybe they pickled a lot of foodstuffs?

 

[elts1956]

Well, I heard Chuck Swindoll once say on one his radio programs, when describing the last supper:

“And Jesus took the bread and told his disciples, this represents my body, then he took juice and said this represents my blood.”

Therefore, since Chuck was trained at the Dallas Theological Seminary, he must know something I don’t, since I didn’t go to school there.

Hello runandsew. Chuck Swindoll has quite a resume and I am sure he is a very learned man. But in saying the bread only “represents” Christ’s body and the wine only “represents” Christ’s blood, he has missed the main part of the story. We are taught, as I am sure you know, the bread IS the body of Christ and the wine IS His blood.

 

[elts1956]

Well, I heard Chuck Swindoll once say on one his radio programs, when describing the last supper:

“And Jesus took the bread and told his disciples, this represents my body, then he took juice and said this represents my blood.”

Therefore, since Chuck was trained at the Dallas Theological Seminary, he must know something I don’t, since I didn’t go to school there.

Hello runandsew. Chuck Swindoll has quite a resume and I am sure he is a very learned man. But in saying the bread only “represents” Christ’s body and the wine only “represents” Christ’s blood, he has missed the most important belief. We are taught, as I am sure you know, the bread IS the body of Christ and the wine IS His blood.

 

[peary]

Hello runandsew. Chuck Swindoll has quite a resume and I am sure he is a very learned man. But in saying the bread only “represents” Christ’s body and the wine only “represents” Christ’s blood, he has missed the main part of the story. We are taught, as I am sure you know, the bread IS the body of Christ and the wine IS His blood.

**Shhh…don’t tell Chuck! ** :blushing:

 

[Daniel_Martin]

At the wedding feast in Cana, Jesus turned the water into wine. When the head steward had tasted this new wine, he said to the groom. Usually you serve the best wine first, then when people have drank their fill, the cheaper wine so they can’t tell. Would this statement make any sense if the head steward was talking about grape juice. I think not! My second point is this-- there were 6 vessels which contained 20 to 30 gallons each. If Jesus would have made this water into grape juice, He would have made 120 to 180 gallons of grape juice. Well if there were only grape juice at the wedding and the people had already drank all of the grape juice provided, then Jesus came up with 180 more gallons of grape juice, everyone at the wedding would have had the runs. Come on, you can’t drink that much grape juice without getting the runs.
This could not have been a non-alcoholic wedding celebration. If it wasn’t, could you serve grape juice to people who had already drank up all the wine that was available. I think- NOT WITHOUT A RIOT! Try using a little wisdom when reading the Bible. If Jesus was against drinking wine, why would he have made a bunch of wine for the wedding feast. Note: This doesn’t mean Jesus was teaching “Drink plenty wine”. It means that a wedding is a very special event and worth celebrating by drinking wine. The attention in on the sacrement of mariage.

 

[jean8]

My mother in law was trying to tell me that the wine jesus drank did not include alcohal and was just grape juice. is this true? I have never really heard that before. just checking to see what others think.

thanks for your help.

mkj,
She must be a Baptist,
The first miracle Jesus performed at Cana, was to change the water into wine . Jesus and His mother, Mary were at a wedding. Jn.2:10 reads “everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”
"Jesus thus revealed His glory, and His disciples put their faith in Him.’ verse 11
To drink wine in moderation is not a sin, but drunkeness is.

God bless,
jean8

 

[Nan_S]

My second point is this-- there were 6 vessels which contained 20 to 30 gallons each. If Jesus would have made this water into grape juice, He would have made 120 to 180 gallons of grape juice. Well if there were only grape juice at the wedding and the people had already drank all of the grape juice provided, then Jesus came up with 180 more gallons of grape juice, everyone at the wedding would have had the runs. Come on, you can’t drink that much grape juice without getting the runs.

In teetotaling Baptist-think, alcohol drinkers are all going to Hell. Which is where we all belong, because as everyone knows there is plenty of sour wine and rot-gut liquor in Hell, but THERE ARE NO BATHROOMS!!!

 

[Mangy_Donkey]

At the wedding feast in Cana, Jesus turned the water into wine. When the head steward had tasted this new wine, he said to the groom. Usually you serve the best wine first, then when people have drank their fill, the cheaper wine so they can’t tell. Would this statement make any sense if the head steward was talking about grape juice. I think not! My second point is this-- there were 6 vessels which contained 20 to 30 gallons each. If Jesus would have made this water into grape juice, He would have made 120 to 180 gallons of grape juice. Well if there were only grape juice at the wedding and the people had already drank all of the grape juice provided, then Jesus came up with 180 more gallons of grape juice, everyone at the wedding would have had the runs. Come on, you can’t drink that much grape juice without getting the runs.
This could not have been a non-alcoholic wedding celebration. If it wasn’t, could you serve grape juice to people who had already drank up all the wine that was available. I think- NOT WITHOUT A RIOT! Try using a little wisdom when reading the Bible. If Jesus was against drinking wine, why would he have made a bunch of wine for the wedding feast. Note: This doesn’t mean Jesus was teaching “Drink plenty wine”. It means that a wedding is a very special event and worth celebrating by drinking wine. The attention in on the sacrement of mariage.

I am not sure if you are trying to be funny or not but that is the hardest I have ever laughed at a post…anywhere. well done!

 

[Mintaka]

There is actually one Jewish feast, at which God apparently instructed the Jews to drink to the point of intoxication – Purim, the feast celebrating Esther’s victory and Haman’s downfall.

The Jews apparently also drank a lot of beer (ale, anyway) and other fermented drinks as well. Again, this was because it wasn’t usually safe to drink water.

 

[Tracy10]

I personally believe he drank it also. The bible refers to wine many times as well as to loathsome people who were drunk. So when he made wine out of water, it’s hard to believe that wine would suddenly took upon a different meaning and be turned only into grape juice.

However I don’t believe he ever drank it to the extent that he ever became drunk. That would’ve gone against everything he taught. I believe he drank it only for festive occasions and very little at that. Why do I believe that? Because he was stronger and wiser than most people and was able to solve his problems with prayer so he didn’t need destructive things to use as a “crutch.”

It’s sad that today so many people believe that having only one drink a day is harmless, little realizing that if they’re using it that often, it is indeed a destructive crutch. All liquor is hard on the liver and daily use (or even occasional binges) is not generally the healthiest way to deal with either stress or pain.