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NASB | Matthew 26:29 "But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom." |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Matthew 26:29 "But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom." |
Subject: What is 'the fruit of the vine'? |
Bible Note: Tim Your case stands on real shaky ground, in fact some of your explanations are not factual to my knowledge. Having made a little wine in my day BC (long before salvation) you can get grapes to ferment but the process is hit or miss and the alcoholic content will be way down (far less than the 18 percent you stated Tim). Also to make wine everything has to sterilized or your wine will go bad. Fermentation is the process where yeast bacteria eat sugar and their waste becomes alcohol( doesn’t that sound tasty?). That in itself ought to tell you something. The process continues until the sugar is used up or until the alcoholic content gets so high the yeast die. Example (these figures are examples not fact) lets say it takes 4 cups of sugar to make a gallon of grape juice into wine at it’s highest alcoholic content. That wine would be a tasty but a little dry wine at about 18 percent alcohol level. If you added 5 cups of sugar you would have a very sweet wine at again 18 percent alcohol level. If you added only 3 cups you would have a very dry wine at 8-10 percent alcohol level. If you simply took grape juice and no sugar you would have a fruity but dryish wine at about 1 percent or less alcohol. Since alcohol acts as a preservative the higher the alcoholic content the longer the wine can be stored. A wine with very low alcoholic content would spoil very easy. In France around the fall time of the year they have a festival called Nouveau Buojelleaux (spelling) Which mean “new wine”. It is wine made naturally (without sugar) and has very low in alcoholic content and therefore without added preservatives a very short shelf life. Basically if it isn’t drank at the festival it begins to go bad and they pour what they call “old wine” out. An interesting note, this “new wine” which is so low in alcoholic content is the wine sought after, it seems their taste have tired of the “old wine” and they are now drinking the “BEST”. At the time of Jesus preservation of food and wine was important, without refined sugar alcoholic content sufficient for preservation as many suppose would be hard to reach. Honey and such could be added but you have the danger of introducing foreign bacteria could cause the wine to spoil into vinegar. The Jewish wine was mostly made from grapes that were crushed and the juice dried by the sun to form a dry film almost like “fruit rollups” the kids have today. Since it was a dry film it would last almost indefinitely and was very practical to carry and store. This dry film was added to water and reconstituted into grape juice when needed. Much like our juice which is labels reconstituted or made from condensed. It was good and for the most part tastes like fresh wine but you could tell the difference so “New wine” or fresh squeezing were sought after. They put new wine in new skins because the chemicals that were used to tan the new skins also killed any foreign bacteria and hence the wine would not begin to ferment, ferment to vinegar not alcoholic wine. Old skins which had been used to store wine would have a bacteria that would cause wine fermentation but alas the gas generated would cause the skin to burst and the wine lost. To make a case that the wine of the Bible was alcoholic is built on shaky ground, while it could have had some alcohol in it you would have to drink more than most could hold to feel any effect. Many say they had to drink it since the water was bad, believe me the water is still bad and they drink it right from the wells today. I’m sure there were those that made high alcoholic wine but that was not the norm and there other alcoholic drinks of the time many were much like what we call beer today, which are easier to make. Also Tim you mentioned the leaven and used the logic that since the leaven represents sin and would be present in the bread they used unleavened bread. You then stated the wine was fermented same leaven but would be dead hence they used fermented wine. However your point misses the fact the bread was baked and the heat would have killed and destroyed the yeast the same as fermentation does. The leaven in the bread was as dead if not more dead than any yeast in wine. Your moderation of drinking is okay but by definition an alcoholic is anyone that has to have a drink. Be it they stay constantly drunk or have one drink a year. I have a very good friend that drinks about once a year but don't get between him and his drink that one time. Alcohol has destroyed more lives than it has helped and like playing with fire is best left alone. EdB |