Is Jesus' Wedding Miracle Consistent With Abstinence from Alcohol?

    It is commonly assumed that Jesus' miraculous changing of water into wine at the wedding feast of Cana is an embarrassment to Christians who totally abstain from alcoholic beverages. To reinforce this assumption men point to the variance between Jesus' own eating and drinking habits and those of his forerunner, John the Baptizer. To be sure, Jesus himself highlighted the difference:

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, "Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard . . ." (Matt. 11:18-19).

There are several problems with the thesis that those who abstain from alcohol spurn the freedom that Christ instituted by the social pattern of his own ministry:

• It overlooks the severity of the Nazarite vow suggested by Luke 1:15, as well as the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. The Nazarite vow which seems to have characterized John's life forbade the partaking of the smallest traces of the fruit of the vine extending even to the grapeskins and seeds (Num. 6:1-4). For Jesus even to drink what is by modern definition grape juice, therefore, and to do so in the company of sinners, would have been enough to set him apart from the ascetic John with respect to his social life, and to evoke the slanderous criticism from the Pharisees: "A glutton and a drunkard."

• It overlooks significance of the miracle at Cana. The miracle at Cana was designated "the first of his signs" (John 2:11). A sign points to something which might otherwise be overlooked. The new covenant significance of wine in Jesus' teaching is made plain from such passages as Matthew 9:17; 26:28; and 1 Corinthians 11:25. The New Covenant stood in strong contrast to the Old, particularly as the Jews had "watered down" that covenant to accommodate their own hypocrisy. Centuries earlier, Isaiah had indicted God's covenant nation with his words, "Your silver has become dross, your best wine mixed with water" (Isa. 1:22). As if to fulfill this indictment, the Jewish Talmud informs us that the Passover cup consisted of a mixture of one part wine with three parts water. In the light of Isaiah's words and the Talmud, therefore, Jesus' changing water into wine at Cana may well have been a spoof on Jewish hypocrisy, but much more a pictorial statement of the nature of the New Covenant in contrast with the Old. Most men served the good wine first, and after the guests had drunk freely, then the poor wine, but through Jesus' gracious intervention, the master of the feast could report to the bridegroom, "But you have kept the good wine until now" (John 2:10). In instituting the New Covenant, God saved the best for last--and there was no watering down! Indeed the insipid became the sweet! Jesus superseded Moses--and, unlike the Pharisees, there is no hypocrisy with him! But this implies nothing about the alcoholic content of the wine.

•  It overlooks the literal aspects of Jesus' new wine metaphor. In Matthew 9:17, Jesus gave an object lesson: "Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into new wineskins, and so both are preserved." Here Jesus is describing the effect of the fermentation process, and in doing so, clearly implies that "new wine" is unfermented wine, that is, it is devoid of alcoholic content. It was "new wine" that the onlookers of Pentecost Sunday supposed was the cause of the effect they were witnessing with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:13). Apparently, the Feast of Pentecost involved the drinking of "new wine," but the assumption of the Jewish onlookers was incorrect, as Peter reminded them it was only 9:00 A.M. No one could have drunk enough by that hour to produce any kind of inebriating effect such as the Jews imagined they were seeing in the 120 gathered in the upper room. If there was any trace of alcoholic content to the new wine, it would have been so minimal that such an idea would have been preposterous! No, "these men are not drunk, as you suppose" (Acts 2:15).

• It overlooks the fact that Jesus had not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets but to fulfill them. Anyone who would relax one of the least of these commandments and teach men accordingly would be regarded as least in the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:17-19). Unlike the Pharisees, Jesus was not in the business of lowering God's standard of righteousness. As to what the Law and the Prophets had to say concerning the use of wine in the sense of strong drink, one need only consider the following: Noah's shameful end (Gen. 9:20-21); Lot's shameful end (Gen. 19:32-35); Moses's instructions for priests (Lev. 10:8-10); Solomon's counsel for kings (Prov. 31:4-9; Solomon's counsel to all (Prov. 20:1; 23:29-35); Isaiah's warning to a backsliding nation (Isa. 5:11-12, 22); the remarkable family tradition of the Rechabites (Jer. 35); Ezekiel's instructions for priests (Ezek. 44:21-23); the sterling example of Daniel and his three friends (Dan.1).

• It overlooks the fact that in all three Synoptic Gospel accounts of the Lord's Supper, the contents of the cup is designated "the fruit of the vine" (Matt. 26:29; Mark 14:25; Luke 22:18). Grape juice fulfills the meaning of our Savior's designation.
  
• It overlooks the concern for the weaker brother addressed by the apostle Paul: "It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes you brother to stumble" (Rom. 14:21).
  
• It overlooks the fact that Timothy, Paul's associate in ministry, had been a total abstainer until, for medical purposes only, Paul encouraged him to "no longer drink only water, but to use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments" (1 Tim. 5:23).
  
• It overlooks the bearing of cultural changes upon the issue. A alcoholic drink or two in the modern world has even greater consequences given the impact of the automobile and airplane, and the mental alertness required in their operation.

• It overlooks the freedom that comes from discipline in the Christian life.  To be a disciple is to be under discipline.  Jesus said, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." (John 8:31-32)  Paul reminded the Corinthian Christians, "Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize?  So run that you may obtain it.  Every athlete exercises self-control in all things.  They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.  So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air.  But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified"  (1 Cor. 9:24-27).

•  It overlooks the subtlety and deception of sin in the life of the Christian.  "Therefore, let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall" (1 Cor. 10:12).   

Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine,
and valiant men in mixing strong drink (Isa. 5:22).