Thursday, January 27, 2011

Did Jesus Drink Fermented Wine?

Note: All Scripture quotations found in this article are from the text of the Authorized King James Version of the Bible.

This article proves that Jesus Christ never drank fermented wine and that alcohol, even in moderation is SIN, unless used in medicine.

The below verses show the first public miracle done by Jesus Christ in the New Testament.

John 2:6 "And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. 7 Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it. 9 When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, 10 And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now." 

People try to say that Jesus made water into fermented wine, but that is utter blasphemy. Six water pots of stone would have been about 72 to 162 gallons of wine, which would have got everyone drunk that was there. If this wine was fermented then Jesus broke the law and was a sinner. We know this is not so because our Lord is sinless and that Jesus made new wine, which is grape juice.

Leviticus 10:9 "Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations: 10 And that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean;" 

Habakkuk 2:15 "Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, that puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also.." 

Notice in John 2:4 that His death on the cross is connected to wine. You are also told that the grape that has "pure blood" is "in the cluster in Isaiah 65:8. New wine is not fermented wine, hence the name "new" wine.

Deuteronomy 32:14 "...and thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape." 


Isaiah 65:8 "Thus saith the LORD, As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one saith, Destroy it not; for a blessing is in it: so will I do for my servants' sakes, that I may not destroy them all." 

Then in the below verse we see that new wine is called the "fruit of the vine". At the Lord's Supper they were drinking new wine(grape juice), not fermented wine as the Catholics drink at Mass.

Matthew 26:29 "But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom." 

New wine can be made by squeezing a bunch of grapes into a cup according to the below verse.

Genesis 40:11 "And Pharaoh's cup was in my hand: and I took the grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand." 

The Bible is strictly against fermented wine and strong drink(any type of alcohol).

Proverbs 23:29 "Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes? 30 They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine. 31 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. 32 At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder. 33 Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things. 34 Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast. 35 They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again." 

Proverbs 20:1 "Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise." 


Isaiah 5:11 "Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them!" 


Isaiah 5:22 "Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink:" 

Isaiah 28:1 "Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading flower, which are on the head of the fat valleys of them that are overcome with wine!" 

Isaiah 28:7 "But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment." 

Fermented wine is connected to violence.

Proverbs 4:17 "For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence." 

Drunkards are connected to poverty.

Proverbs 23:21 "For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags."

Kings were told not to drink wine, nor strong drink.

Proverbs 31:4 "It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink: 5 Lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted." 

Pastors are commanded not to drink wine.

1 Timothy 3:2 "A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach; 3 Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous;" 

The only time fermented wine is permitted in the Bible is in the case of medicine and there is very little alcoholic content even then.

1 Timothy 5:23 "Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities." 

Also, I done some research and found out that through the 1500's and 1700's, grape juice was commonly called wine. Keep in mind that the King James Bible was translated in 1611.

"Juice when newly expressed, and before it has begun to ferment, is called 'must', and in common language 'new wine'." Dr. Ure, Dictionary of Arts


"Sweet wine is that which has not yet fermented." Chamber's Cyclopedia 6th edition (1750)


"The juice or liquor pressed out of the ripe grapes is called vinum (wine)." Parkinson, Theatrum Botanicum


"When on the south coast of Italy last Christmas, I enquired particularly about the wines in common use, and found that those esteemed the best were sweet and unintoxicating...The Calabrians keeps their intoxicating and unintoxicating wines in separate apartments...I found that the unfermented wines were esteemed the most. Great pains were taken in the vintage season to have a good stock of it laid by." Captain Treat, in 1845, Dr. Lee's Works

The people that try to say that Jesus drank fermented wine are backslidden and are only trying to find an excuse for their sinful habit. It is utter blasphemy to say that Jesus Christ would make or drink fermented wine.