Bible Question:
Did Jesus ever drink wine? The only verse that I can come up with where it might insinuate that He did is the following: Mat 11:18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil. Mat 11:19 The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children. Is Jesus saying here that He did drink wine? And if He did was if fermented wine? |
Bible Answer: The recorded history of wine making is more than forty-three hundred years old, the oldest account telling how Noah planted a vineyard after the Flood and made wine from its grapes. (Gen. 9:20, 21) From earliest times this beverage has been used at mealtime, (Gen. 27:25; Eccl. 9:7) Wine, bread and other foods are often associated together. (1 Sam. 16:20; Song of Sol. 5:1; Isa. 22:13; 55:1) Melchizedek set “bread and wine” before Abraham. (Gen. 14:18-20) Jesus drank wine with his meals when it was available.—Matt. 11:19; Luke 7:34. Wine was very much a part of special celebration—banquets (Esther 1:7; 5:6; 7:2, 7, 8; Dan. 5:1, 2, 4), wedding feasts (John 2:3, 9, 10; 4:46), and other festivals. (1 Chron. 12:39, 40; Job 1:13, 18) The royal commissaries were stocked with wines (1 Chron. 27:27; 2 Chron. 11:11); King Solomon had his “house of wine” (Song of Sol. 2:4); it was the customary beverage of kings and governors. (Neh. 2:1; 5:15, 18; Dan. 1:5, 8, 16) Travelers often included it in their provisions for the journey.—Josh. 9:4, 13; Judg. 19:19. Wine and its proper use are not censured, but drunkenness and lack of self-control are Scripturally prohibited and condemned. “Woe to those who are getting up early in the morning that they may seek just intoxicating liquor, who are lingering till late in the evening darkness so that wine itself inflames them!” (Isa. 5:11) “Who has woe? Who has uneasiness? Who has contentions? Who has concern? Who has wounds for no reason? Who has dullness of eyes? Those staying a long time with the wine, those coming in to search out mixed wine.” (Prov. 23:29, 30) “Do not come to be among heavy drinkers of wine,” for an excess of alcohol causes “poverty,” “drowsiness,” ‘takes away good motive,’ causes “rage,” “loafing about,” or makes one “boisterous.”—Prov. 23:20, 21; Hos. 4:11; 7:5, 14; Zech. 9:15. |