Why Did We Change the Grape Juice to Wine in the Communion Cup?
A Biblical View of Wine and the Cultural Influences that
Shaped the Church to Change Its Practice of Communion
The Use of Wine in the Bible
Before I speak directly about the element of wine in communion, it is necessary to take a step or two back to evaluate what the Bible reveals about the use of wine.
If Christians are going to be committed to the Bible as their authority for faith and practice, then this is where they must start.
First of all, the Bible emphatically reveals that the abuse of wine is sin.
The abuse of wine is drunkenness.
The Bible calls drunkenness a work of the flesh.
“Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery . . .
drunkenness . . .” (Galatians 5:19,21).
One cannot be drunk and be filled with the Spirit.
“And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
(Ephesians 5:18).
While God created beautiful women, the proper love of them in marriage is not sin. but the abuse of God’s good creation is emphatically so.
Likewise, wine itself is a good thing and not a sin.
However, the Bible calls the abuse of it “the work of the flesh”, or sin.
Likewise, the Bible is strong in its language about drunkards,
Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom
of God?
Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
(1 Corinthians 6:9-10).
Notice that the Bible is not addressing the elements of abuse, but the heart of man which is unrighteous.
So while the Bible strictly prohibits the abuse of alcohol and warns strongly against the heart that would do so, it always makes a distinction between the good use of something good and the abuse of it.
A modern cultural example of this is the argument for gun
control.
Many take the side that all guns should be outlawed because guns kill people.
It is a mistake to think that way. Guns do not kill.
People with wicked hearts kill.
A more absurd example, but one that brings the point home, would be to outlaw all matches and lighters.
While fire can be a good and useful thing, it also kills people and destroys property.
Psalm 104:14-15 says,
“He [God] causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth; And wine that maketh glad the heart of man...”
Rom 14:21-22
21 It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.
22 Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth.
(KJV)
3196 yayin (yah'-yin);
from an unused root meaning to effervesce; wine (as fermented); by implication, intoxication:
KJV-- banqueting, wine, wine [-bibber].
1. Wine is Used For Good Health
The first use of wine in the Bible is for medicinal purposes.
Prov 31:6-7
6 Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts.
7 Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more.
(KJV)
Note how the apostle Paul advises Timothy, the young pastor of the church in Ephesus, to drink a little wine for his infirmities.
“Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities.” (1 Timothy 5:23).
Any advice about the consumption of alcohol must take into
account not only the complex relation between alcohol and
cardiovascular disease but also the well-known association of
heavy consumption of alcohol with a large number of health
risks.
Medical research has demonstrated the biblical principle of “abuse versus proper use”.
Apparently, when Paul told Timothy to drink a little wine for good health, he had good reasons for doing so!
2.Wine is Used in Godly Celebration
A portion of Deuteronomy 14 instructs the Israelites regarding the third year tithe.
Every three years, the Israelites were commanded to take the tithe of their produce and bring it to Jerusalem to celebrate before the Lord (v.28).
The following are the instructions that the Lord gave.
Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field
bringeth forth year by year.
Deut. 14:26
And thou shalt eat before the LORD thy God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear the LORD thy God always.
The Christian, however, should always have the guiding principle of 1 Corinthians 10:31 governing all of his behavior, “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”
No matter what a Christian eats or drinks, whether it be water or wine, he is commanded to so to God’s glory
The Christology of Wine
Isaiah 55:1
“Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea,come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.”
The gospel is free,provided by God’s grace, and is full of abundant blessings of which wine is representative.
Proverbs 8 speaks of Christ in terms of wisdom.
In Proverbs 9:2-5 we hear Wisdom calling out to us to come to herb(Christ) and eat of her bread and drink of her wine. Christ Himself calls us to the
same.
The wonderful love union between husband and wife is a picture of Christ and the Church (cf. Ephesians 5:22-33).
The Song of Solomon is a book written that typifies (symbolically represents) the Lord with His Bride, the Church, and demonstrates this beautiful marriage bond. In chapter five of Song of Solomon, the Scripture says, “I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk: eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved.”(Song of Solomon 5:1).
When Jesus changed the water into wine at the festive wedding in Cana, the Scripture says that in so doing, Christ “…manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him” (John 2:11).
Psalm 104:14-15 says that God gives wine to gladden the hearts of men.
This is exactly what the blood of Christ and the presence of Christ do – they gladden our hearts.
The Bible tells us in Matthew 11:19, “The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber(3196), a friend of publicans and sinners.
But wisdom is justified of her children.” Several things are notable from this text.
First of all, if Jesus had only been drinking unfermented grape juice, as some claim, then the railing accusation against Him would bear no weight.
Jesus came drinking fermented wine, and His accusers found fault with it.
Because he drank wine and ate, they falsely accused Him of being a drunkard and a glutton.
Secondly, there was just as much a problem with the sin of drunkenness in Jesus’ day as in our own.
We must not set up standards of righteousness that Jesus Himself never ordained or even followed.
To do so is a certain road to legalism which does not promote true holiness, but destroys it.
What better analogies and illustrations could the Lord have used for His own blood than wine?
Wine has the color of blood. By the virtue of the alcohol in it, wine has power in it.
The blood of Jesus which cleanses His people from our sins has power in it (Romans 1:16).
His blood gladdens the hearts of His people, and is the occasion for our easting and celebration.
Such an occasion is observed at every communion.
So, this brings us up to my question – Why did we change the grape juice to wine in communion?
The Necessary Use of Wine in Communion
As I meditated over the meaning of the sacraments that Christ gave His Church in the New Covenant, I began to appreciate more fully the true meaning and purpose of them.
When Christ observed the Lord’s Supper in the upper room with His disciples at Passover time,he used real fermented wine, not grape juice.
When Jesus instituted this New Covenant sacrament, he said,
And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
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. (Matthew 26:27-29).
Dunlop Moore’s comments shed light on the alcoholic nature of the wine Jesus used when he defines the phrase “fruit of the vine.”
… the Jews from time immemorial have used this phrase to designate the wine partaken of on sacred occasions, as at the Passover and on the evening of the Sabbath.
The Mishnah or Mishna (משנה, "repetition", from the verb shanah שנה, or "to study and review") is a major work of Rabbinic Judaism, and the first major redaction into written form of Jewish oral traditions, called the Oral Torah. The word "Mishnah" also means "Secondary" (derived from the adj. שני) thus named for being both the one written authority (codex) secondary (only) to the Tanach as a basis for the passing of judgement, a source and a tool for creating laws, and the first of many books to complement the Bible in a certain aspect. The Mishnah does so by presenting actual cases being brought to judgement, usually presents the debate on the matter as it was, and relays the judgement which was given by a wise and notable rabbi, based on the rules, Mitzvot, and spirit of the "Torah" which guided his sentencing, thus bringing to every-day reality the rules and the practice or adherence of the "mitzvot" as presented in the Bible. In other words, the Mishnah teaches strictly by example and is case-based, though associative in structure, it aimed to cover all aspects of human living, set an example in its own for future judgements and, most importantly, demonstrate pragmatic exercise of the biblical laws, which was much needed at the time when the Second Temple was destroyed. The Mishnah reflects debates between 70-200 CE by the group of rabbinic sages known as the Tannaim[1] and redacted about 200 CE by Judah haNasi when, according to the Talmud, the persecution of the Jews and the passage of time raised the possibility that the details of the oral traditions would be forgotten. The oral traditions that are the subject of the Mishnah go back to earlier, Pharisaic times. The Mishnah does not claim to be the development of new laws, but merely the collection of existing traditions.
The Mishnah is considered to be the first important work of Rabbinic Judaism[2] and is a major source of later rabbinic religious thought.
The Mishna (De.Bened, cap.6, par I) expressly states, that, in pronouncing
blessings, “the fruit of the vine” is the consecrated expression for yayin [Greek word for wine] . . .
The Christian fathers as well as the Jewish rabbis, have understood the “fruit of the vine” to mean wine in the proper sense.
Our Lord in instituting the Supper after Passover, availed himself of the
expression invariably employed by his countrymen in speaking of the wine of the Passover.
On other occasions, when employing the language of common life, he calls wine by its ordinary name.
Moreover, the time of the Passover was in the spring.
It was held during the first month of the Jewish calendar which is in the March/April timeframe today.
The grape harvest was in August or September.
This would put Passover just about six months away from the grape harvest season.
One must remember that pasteurization of grape juice, to keep it from turning into wine, was not invented until 1869.
As soon as grapes are crushed they begin fermenting.
It is as though grapes want to turn to wine.
God made grapes so that they naturally contain the necessary ingredients, sugar and yeast, to turn to wine.
Grapes will reach almost full alcoholic content in only five to ten days.
In the first century, the Hebrews did not have a way to store grape juice or inhibit it from fermenting until Passover.
Fermentation was the natural method of preserving the juice from the grapes.
The cup that Jesus instituted at Passover undoubtedly contained real alcoholic wine.
After all, He changed 120 gallons of water into wine, and that occasion was also around Passover time.
We know from the testimony of the master of the feast that this was not only real wine, but the best wine (John 2:9-10).
It is wine and not grape juice, like the blood of Jesus, that has power in it.
We would do well to heed the account of Nadab and Abihu in Leviticus 10 to understand the seriousness of changing something sacramental that God had specifically prescribed.
And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which he commanded them not.
And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD. (Leviticus 10:1-2)
The fault of these priests was their disobedience in not following what the Lord prescribed.
The Lord had commanded one thing to be burned, but they changed
the element to burn something else, and God severely judged them for it.
V. The Historical Context that Influenced the Church to
Change the Element
First of all, the change to grape juice in the communion cup is a fairly recent phenomenon.
For over 1800 years, the issue of wine in communion has never been debated – in any branch of the Church.
While the Church debated just about every other point of communion, the one thing that was never debated was the element to be used.
While the Roman Catholics held to transubstantiation, and the Lutherans to consubstantiation, the Zwinglians to a memorialist view, and the Reformed to the spiritual presence of Christ, the one thing they all had in common was the use of bread and wine.
The substitution of grape juice for wine had its origins not in the Bible, but in influences of American culture with the demands of the temperance movement in the mid-nineteenth century
The temperance movement was, at first, an American phenomenon, primarily occurring between 1826 and 1860, designed to curb the consumption of alcoholic beverages.
The American Temperance Society was formed in Boston in 1826, and seven of the sixteen founders were clergyman.
They promoted a total abstinence position. Their intention was good.
They desired to curb the abuse of alcohol and the drunkenness around them.
However, their methodologies were wrong and would soon prove not to have the effect they desired.
This temperance movement sparked campaigns to prohibit the sale of alcohol, but , in 1857, this was declared unconstitutional.
This is a classic example of taking an abuse of something good,
and forming a wrong application in handling the problem.
While the temperance movement included a large number of clergymen, they were not solving the problem biblically.
There are numerous problems associated with the philosophy of the temperance movement.
For instance, the Bible was subjected to much perversion in order to promote the cause of abstinence.
It is appalling to discover that, during Prohibition, temperance activists actually hired a scholar to rewrite the Bible by removing all references to alcoholic beverage.
Many other fallacious applications began springing up from this false premise that alcohol is evil. .
For example, because the temperance movement taught that
alcohol was a poison, proponents insisted that school books never mention the contradictory fact that alcohol was commonly prescribed by physicians for medicinal and health purposes.
The fundamental flaw in this line of thinking is forbidding something that God has not forbidden.
In other words, when someone calls something evil that God does not say is evil, yea, has even called it good, that person is wrong and must have his mind renewed with the Word of God.
Undeniably, our sentiments about alcohol today have been influenced by this relatively recent phenomenon based upon an unbiblical and faulty premise.
In today’s Church, we have a lot of pharisaism. Jesus exposed the Pharisees heart when He showed them how they frequently ignored God’s clear laws, while making up others that were not according to Scripture.
Modern-day Pharisees like to call something evil which Scripture has not so declared, while making other things lawful that Scripture has clearly prohibited.
While denying God’s laws, they piously follow men’s traditions . Jesus addressed this very issue in admonishing the Pharisees.
For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.
And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. (Mark 7:8-9)
The rippling affects of the temperance movement began to be felt in the Church.
Consequently, in 1869, Dr. Thomas Bramwell Welch, a physician and dentist by profession, successfully pasteurized Concord grape juice to produce an "unfermented sacramental wine" for fellow parishioners at his church in Vineland, N.J., where he was the communion steward.
His achievement marked the beginning of the processed fruit juice industry and the beginning of this drastic change in communion for the first time in history.
The second dynamic which resulted in the change of the element was a low view of the sacrament of communion.
The doctrinal strength of the Church was waning and the sacraments were seen mostly as memorial “ordinances.”
When the Church has a low view of the sacraments, then it is easy to be flippant with changing things around.
Today, the Church, particularly in America, is still plagued with low view of the sacraments.
Naturally, all sorts of novelties are beginning to emerge.
In one of my church supply catalogues, a new way of serving communion was packaged in a product that already has the juice in a sealed plastic cup and a wafer enclosed on the top.
The advertisement read, “Communion now as easy as 1-2-3.”
Refuting Some Common Objections
While I will not cover all of the objections to using wine in communion, I will refute some of the most common objections.
Objection: While some wine in the Bible may be alcoholic, Jesus would not have used alcoholic wine, but grape juice, for communion.
The Bible must be the standard of what is right and wrong, and the Bible never makes this claim that wine is evil..
In fact, the Bible indicates that wine is good. Only the abuse of what is good is wrong.
This assumption ignores many of the Scriptural passages about wine.
In fact, the Bible uses more positive references to wine than negative ones.
The early Church seemed to have no problem understanding that what Jesus drank was real wine.
Paul rebuked some in the church at Corinth for getting drunk off of the communion wine (1 Corinthians 11:20-21).
What Paul rebuked was not the use of wine in communion, but the abuse of communion itself.
They were abusing both the bread and wine.
It is clear from this passage that the element in the communion cup was alcoholic wine.
Objection: Jesus used new wine, and new wine is grape juice that has not yet fermented.
While this may at first sound plausible, it has no biblical merit.
New wine in the Bible was also alcoholic.
The disciples at Pentecost were accused of being drunk with new wine (Acts 2:13).
That accusation would be nonsensical if new wine were not alcoholic.
Remember that it only takes five to ten days from the time the grapes are crushed for the wine to reach its full (or almost full) alcoholic content.
New wine is wine that has not fully aged. It is not wine that contains no alcohol.
Objection: While Jesus may have used real wine in His day, our current situation calls for temperance, and therefore the use of grape juice is warranted.
This argument is not scriptural at all. It is based on pragmatic reasoning which not only has no biblical basis (a dangerous position), but it truly has no practical justification.
The Scriptures warn against drunkenness
(1 Corinthians 6:10).
Alcohol is not the problem; the sinful human heart is.
For someone to still consider this argument viable, consider that the amount of wine in the communion cup is approximately 1-1½ teaspoons.
This is far less alcohol than one will consume in cough syrup or many cold medicines.
People do not think twice about taking alcohol in medicines or even putting it in their favorite cookie recipes (e.g. vanilla extract).
This kind of thinking represents emotional biasing in what people believe is right rather than basing their convictions on the rational and logical teachings of Scripture.
Our conscious must be trained by the Scriptures and not by what our well-meaning grandmother always told us.
Our emotions should always follow a mind that is renewed by the Scriptures (Romans 12:1-2).
The Church, and Christians alike, would be much better off if they would dedicate themselves to what the Bible reveals rather than living according to what we feel like doing or not doing.
May we return to the Scriptures alone as the teacher of our conscience!
Conclusion
The Bible reveals to us that the element in the cup is wine and not grape juice, and we should observe communion accordingly.
If a man chooses to practice abstinence in his Christian walk, there is no problem with his application, with three qualifications.
First of all, he cannot judge others who decide not to take his position.
This is legalism and should be resisted. The Scripture, not
our personal standard, is the rule and judge for our faith and practice.
Secondly, a Christian can apply abstinence in his life so long as he has a right biblical view of alcohol and Christian liberty.
This point is basically the same as the first, but with broader implications.
Holiness is an issue of the heart. If one think he can further his own personal holiness with his position, or any other position that the Scripture does not teach, he is seriously misguided.
This modern-day Pharisaism is destructive to the Christian faith and
gospel living.
