Wine Or Juice?

Q

Is there any way to know for certain whether Jesus and His disciples drank wine or juice at the institution of the Lord’s supper?

A

I believe this issue arose because some who are opposed to Christians drinking alcoholic beverages try to make the claim that Jesus never drank alcohol. There are plenty of ways to dispute this, but the clearest is in Matt. 11:18-19.

For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and “sinners.”

But for those who desire more evidence that wine was served at the Lord’s supper, here’s a response based on deductive reasoning that a regular visitor to the site sent me.

He wrote, ” What time of year was/is the Passover observed? March/April, right? What time of year did our Lord and His disciples observe the Lord’s Supper? At Passover, right? What time of year are the grapes harvested? Around September, right? Did they have refrigeration or pasteurization back then? No? Then how could they have kept the juice from fermenting during the winter? After seven months of storage, you’d have some pretty good wine.