Making Things New

JOHN 2

Read John chapter 2:1-11

This passage recalls Jesus's miracle of turning water into wine. This miracle should not be taken as a broad license to over indulge in alcohol but rather as a sign of Jesus's power over all aspects of life, from birth, celebrations and even death. 

Wine in the Ancient World

The production of grapes, both for eating and for squeezing into juice, was a very important part of the agriculture of the ancient Mediterranean world, and grapes were one of the dietary staples of the region. Fresh grapes, vineyards, wine and raisins are often mentioned in the Old and New Testaments. When dried into raisins grapes became resistant to spoiling and could therefore be eaten throughout the year. In the same way properly processed grape juice could be preserved for long periods of time. 

For Modern Bible believing Christians, the subject of wine (non alcoholic/alcoholic) raises several questions about wine then and wine today. Three main questions generally present themselves:

1. When the New Testament mentions "wine" was it always alcoholic as it is in modern times?
2. How does the alcoholic content in ancient fermented wine compare with that of the wines available today?
3. When Jesus turned water into wine at the wedding in Cana of Galilee, was the wine alcoholic or unfermented?

An extreme response to the first question says that the wine mentioned in the Bible was never alcoholic. This view is certainly false. Old Testament warnings about fermented wine (Proverbs 23:29-35) and New Testament warnings about drunkenness and the addictive

power of wine (Ephesians 5:18, 1 Peter 4:3) point to the availability of alcoholic wine in Jewish society.

An equally indefensible view, however is the view by some that all wine mentioned in the Bible was alcoholic. The assumption is that since there was no refrigeration in ancient times there was no way pf preserving wine in an unfermented (alcoholic) state. This argument ignores the evidence from ancient writers like Pliny (Natural History 14:11 [14:83] and Columella (De Rustica 12:29) who describe the production of non alcoholic wine ("always sweet").

To preserve wine in a non-alcoholic state for long periods of time, the standard practice was to boil fresh grape juice down to about a third of its original volume. The condensed juice was very sweet and because of its high sugar content it both resisted spoiling and fermentation. Later water could be added back to produce drinkable juice (think todays fruit cordials like Oros). Sometimes it was used to preserve other fruit, in cooking and as medicine. 

Sweet wine were very well liked in ancient times. Because fermentation reduces the natural sugars and replaces them with alcohol, alcoholic wines are not sweet. Since sweet wine was pleasing to the palate it was viewed as the best quality versus the alcoholic wines.

Sometimes in the ancient world (just like today) people consumed alcohol in order to become intoxicated. The god of wine and revelry (partying) was known among the Greeks as Dionysus and among the Romans as Bacchus. Drunken parties and drinking contests in honour of them are well documented. This wine was not diluted with water and normally had an alcohol content of around 14% (same as modern day alcoholic wine). in the past people diluted alcohol in a ratio of 1 to 3 which reduced the alcohol content to around 3%. Today it is very rare that people dilute alcoholic wine with water. This means that unintentional drunkenness is a much greater danger for wine drinkers today than it was in the ancient world. This danger increases even more when mixed drinks containing distilled liquors (brandy, whiskey, vodka alcohol of 40%) are consumed. Any alcohol consumption leads to some impairment of mental and motor skills and any alcohol consumption for believers should always be in moderation.

The next post will deal with Jesus's Glory being revealed through the miracle of turning water into wine.

Bible Verse

Praise the Lord. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. Psalm 106:1, NIV

Prayer

Dear Father in heaven, whose might is over all the earth, we thank you for all the love you show us. We also thank you for everything that seems hard, but which you change into help and strength. We want to thank you in life and in death, in joy and in sorrow, for you are the great and mighty God, who calls us to life again and again, who leads us to fuller life. You have given us great love in Jesus Christ, our Savior. He shall always be before our eyes and remain in our hearts. Through him we can cry out in joy, "Abba, dear Father!" . In Jesus name, Amen.

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