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Wine or Grape Juice Drinking the Cup It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine,
nor any thing whereby Michael Nekora “One would think a group so particular about keeping the Memorial on the correct date according to the Jewish calendar would be equally exacting about drinking what the Lord and his disciples drank that night.” So said an observer when he learned our congregation used grape juice, not wine, in the Memorial cup. What was in the cup when our Lord and his disciples ate that last supper together? It was probably wine. The month Nisan was in the spring of the year, equivalent to our March-April. The grape harvest had occurred six months earlier. Grape juice could not easily be kept without fermenting. One can make wine by doing nothing more than crushing ripe grapes, then waiting. A natural yeast on the grape skins causes the grape sugar to change into alcohol and carbon dioxide. Refrigeration or pasteurization can keep that from happening, but neither was an option in ancient times. Wine was apparently the beverage of choice among ordinary people as coffee is today. When our Lord says they were to drink his “blood,” it was probably wine they were drinking. Yet many celebrate the Lord’s Memorial using grape juice. Why? Doesn’t this violate what our Lord told his followers to do when they memorialized his death? In fact the Scriptures, without exception, never say wine must be used: “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” (Matthew 26:29). Mark and Luke also describe what happened that night and both also use the ambiguous expression “fruit of the vine” instead of the specific word for wine. If wine and only wine were to be used in the Memorial cup, surely all the gospel writers would say so explicitly. Of course wine is “fruit of the vine,” but so are raisin and grape juice. The Bible uses this ambiguous phrase to describe the cup because the Memorial is about our Lord’s death, not about the symbols themselves (of course the liquid must be red, not white). Alcoholism is a terrible disease, a scourge afflicting Christians and non-Christians alike. Recovered alcoholics cannot ingest even a small amount of alcohol without risking grave harm to themselves. Would any suggest that when it comes to remembering the Lord’s death, that is a risk one must take? Surely the Lord would never make such a suggestion! Some Bible Student groups have always used wine in the cup when they come together to remember the Lord’s death. That is appropriate when all agree there is no risk to any of their members. In the United States most use pasteurized grape juice. That conforms to the phrase “fruit of the vine.” But if some insist that wine be used while others want grape juice, a few drops of wine could be added into the grape juice so the consciences of those who feel it is important will not be compromised. After all the Scriptures never say how much wine must be consumed. As we partake of the cup, we acknowledge our participation in sacrifice with our master: “The cup of blessing which we bless [or: for which we give thanks], is it not the communion [or: participation] of the blood of Christ?” (1 Corinthians 10:16). Each year those who participate in this solemn ceremony acknowledge that they are willingly sacrificing their hopes, aims, and ambitions to follow the example of Jesus Christ. Eventually this cup which now represents suffering and sacrifice will be fully consumed. And it will be no more. In its place will be a “new cup,” one filled with joy: “Verily I say unto you, I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine, until that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God” (Mark 14:25). May we all be faithful even unto death so we may be accounted worthy to drink that cup. |