1O REASONS WHY THE WINE JESUS MADE COULD NOT HAVE BEEN ALCOHOLIC
1. The vast quantity created (between 120 and 180 gallons).
This amount of intoxicating wine would have turned the wedding feast into a drunken brawl. Scholars who try to overcome this by suggesting that not all the water was turned into wine, but only that which was drawn off, only complicate things. For did not Christ know all things? He would know exactly how many people would drink one cup. Why then did He not have the attendants fill only one pot? Or even two pots, etc.? No, the miracle was divine wisdom and providence in action. Christ's abundant wisdom and providence made it obvious that such an amount could not have been intoxicating, thereby protecting His flawless reputation.
2. Christ's sinlessness and moral perfection.
Jesus Himself said in John 8:46:
Which of you convinceth me of sin?
In other words, no one was able to convict or find Him guilty of the slightest sin. Thus He declares His sinless and moral perfection. Those scholars, who talk about Christ's impeccability (perfection) and almost in the same breath declare that He was a drinker and an advocate of alcoholic wine, are totally in error. Concerning Christ's character, Hendrickson states:
Today's radical theologian is inconsistant when on
the one hand he loudly proclaims the moral
perfection of Jesus; yet on the other hand rejects
His majestic claims! If Jesus is sinless, His claims
should be accepted. Any other course is positively
wicked.
Although this statement refers to rejecting Jesus as God, declaring that He was a drinker and that He made intoxicating wine is not far from this dangerous stance.
Even Jesus' enemies realized that drinking was sin and call Him a winebibber (wine drinker, Matt. 11:19; Luke 7:34) and what is even more amazing, people who profess to be Christians accuse Him of the same thing!
Many sinners, some of whom have been misinformed by Christians on this issue, also realize that drinking is sin and object to Jesus' claims on those grounds. R.A. Torrey explains this point:
A stock objection against the Bible, and not only
against the Bible but against Jesus Christ Himself, is
is found in the story of Jesus turning the water into
wine at the marriage festival at Cana of Galilee as
recorded in John 2:1-11.
Unfortunately, this kind of view only comes from those who do not really understand who Jesus is. An even sadder point is that many Christians do more to hinder unbelievers from coming to Christ by misrepresenting His character when it comes to the drink issue.
We will now look at some New Testament Scripture passages, which reaffirm Jesus' sinlessness and perfection, in the light of which makes it inconceivable that our Lord could have drank or created alcoholic beverages. These read:
1 John 3:5 5 And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.
1 Peter 2:22 22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:
2 Corinthians 5:21 21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might
be made the righteousness of God in him.
Hebrews 7:26 26 For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled,
separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;
In the light of these Biblical facts, it is plain that those who suggest that Jesus drank or created alcoholic wine have a very dim conception of His holiness indeed.
John 4:24, 25 states:
John 4:24-25 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in
truth. 25 The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is
called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.
Jesus also stated:
John 3:19 …men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
These passages alone tell us that Jesus would not have bowed to the sinful desires of men by creating intoxicating wine. As the Scripture states, Jesus knew what was in man, that is, He knew their sinful hearts and evil desires. They indeed loved darkness rather than light.
Those commentators of the Bible therefore, who state such arguments such as, “temperance” is one of the qualities mentioned under the fruit of the Spirit. Or that the guests at the wedding feast, which Christ attended at Cana of Galilee, were a select and holy band of people, who would therefore not drink too much, is not a valid reason for explaining away why Christ would not have created intoxicating wine. Since all were sinners.
Such an act of making alcoholic wine would not have produced faith in Him as the glorious Son of God. Instead it would have merely identified Him as another sinful man with the usual sinful desires for finding pleasure in evil things.
In Matthew 6:13, Jesus states:
Matthew 6:13 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil…
Christ would not therefore have tempted men to become drunkards, which would mean exclusion from the kingdom of God in which He Himself proclaimed.
- Christ would have approved of social drinking.
Pubs, bars, etc., would therefore be the accepted thing amongst Christians if the wine Christ made was alcoholic as some insist. Christ could also be held responsible to a large extent for the problem of alcoholism today, as the Encyclopedia Britannica points out:
First in the realm of health, the most serious and detrimental effect is alcoholism. Although
drinking itself is hardly ever regarded as the sufficient cause of alcoholism, this disease could
not arise without the use of alcohol.