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NASB | John 2:10 and *said to him, "Every man serves the good wine first, and when the people have drunk freely, then he serves the poorer wine; but you have kept the good wine until now." |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | John 2:10 and said to him, "Everyone else serves his best wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then he serves that which is not so good; but you have kept back the good wine until now." |
Bible Question: Was the wine alcoholic or not |
Bible Answer: part 2 USE OF WINE IN LORD'S SUPPER Did Jesus use fermented or unfermented grape drink when He instituted the Lord's Supper (Mat. 26:26-29; Mark 14:22-25; Luke 22:17-20; 1 Cor. 11:23-26)? The following data support the conclusion that what Jesus and His disciples drank was unfermented grape juice. (1) Neither Luke nor any other Biblical writer uses the word "wine"(oinos) in regard to the Lord's Supper. The first three Gospel writers use "fruit of the vine" (Mat. 26:29; Mark 14:25; Luke 22:18-KJV). Unfermented wine is the only true natural "fruit of the vine," containing approximately 20 percent sugar and NO alcohol. Fermentation destroys much of sugar and alters what the vine produced. Fermented wine is not the product of the vine. (2) The Lord's Supper was instituted when Jesus and His disciples were eating the Passover. The Passover law in Ex. 12:14-20 prohibited, during Passover week, the presence and use of seor (Ex. 12:15), a word referring to leaven, yeast, or any agent of fermentation. Seor in the ancient world was often obtained from the thick scum in top of fermenting wine. Furthermore, all hametz (i.e. anything containing any fermentation) was forbidden (Ex. 12:19; 13:7) God had given these laws because fermentation symbolized corruption and sin (Mat. 16:6,12:1 Cor. 5:7-8). Jesus, the Son of God, fulfilled the law in every requirement (Mat.5:17). Thus, He would have followed God's law for the Passover and not used fermented wine. (3) A rather lively debate has taken place over the centuries among Jewish rabbis and scholars in NT times. as to whether fermented products of the vine were allowed in the Passover. Those who held to a stricter and more literal interpretation of the Hebrew Scriptures, especially Exodus 13:7, insisted that no fermented wine was to be used on this occasion. (4) Some Jewish sources affirm that the use of the unfermented wine at the Passover was common in NT times. For example, "According to the synoptic Gospels, it would appear that on the Thursday evening of the last week of His life Jesus with His disciples entered Jerusalem in order to eat the Passover meal with them in the sacred city; if so, the wafer and the wine of ...them communion service then instituted by Him as a memorial would be the unleavened bread and the unfermented wine of the Seder Service" (see "Jesus," The Jewish Encyclopedia, 1904 edition, V.165). (5) In the OT fermented drink was never to be used in the house of God, nor were the priests allowed to draw near to God in worship while drinking intoxicating beverages (see Lev. 10:9). Jesus Christ was God's High Priest of the new covenant for the sake of His people (Heb. 3:1;5:1-10) (6) The value of a symbol is determined by its capacity to conceptualize the spiritual reality. Therefore, just as the bread represented the pure body of Christ and had to be unleavened (i.e. uncorrupted with fermentation), the fruit of the vine, representing the incorruptible blood of Christ, would have been best represented by juice that was unfermented (1 Pet. 1:18-19) (7) Paul instructed the Corinthians to put away spiritual yeast, i.e. the fermenting agent of "malice and wickedness", because Christ is our Passover (1 Cor.5:6-8). It would be inconsistent with the goal and spiritual requirement of the Lord's Supper to use something which was a symbol of evil. i.e. something with leaven or yeast. Cont Part 3 |