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Chapter 4—Wine in the Bible
The Wine at Cana Not Fermented
—The Bible nowhere sanc-
tions the use of intoxicating wine. The wine that Christ made from
water at the marriage feast of Cana was the pure juice of the grape.
This is the “new wine ... found in the cluster,” of which the Scripture
says, “Destroy it not; for a blessing is in it.”
Isaiah 65:8
.
It was Christ who, in the Old Testament, gave the warning to
Israel, “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is
deceived thereby is not wise.”
Proverbs 20:1
. He Himself provided
no such beverage. Satan tempts men to indulgence that will becloud
reason and benumb the spiritual perceptions, but Christ teaches us to
bring the lower nature into subjection. He never places before men
that which would be a temptation. His whole life was an example
of self-denial. It was to break the power of appetite that in the forty
days’ fast in the wilderness He suffered in our behalf the severest
test that humanity could endure. It was Christ who directed that John
the Baptist should drink neither wine nor strong drink. It was He
who enjoined similar abstinence upon the wife of Manoah. Christ
did not contradict His own teaching. The unfermented wine that He
provided for the wedding guests was a wholesome and refreshing
drink. This is the wine that was used by our Saviour and His disciples
in the first Communion. It is the wine that should always be used
on the Communion table as a symbol of the Saviour’s blood. The
sacramental service is designed to be soul-refreshing and life-giving.
There is to be connected with it nothing that could minister to evil.—
The Ministry of Healing, 333, 334
.
Wine Recommended in Bible Not Intoxicating
—The Bible
nowhere teaches the use of intoxicating wine, either as a beverage or
as a symbol of the blood of Christ. We appeal to the natural reason
whether the blood of Christ is better represented by the pure juice
of the grape in its natural state, or after it has been converted into a
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fermented and intoxicating wine.... We urge that the latter should
never be placed upon the Lord’s table.... We protest that Christ never
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