Jesus, Turning Water into Wine
Recently a mature brother in the Lord approached me asking what I thought about Jesus turning water into wine as recorded in the gospel of John (John, 2:1-12). He mentioned that when he and his wife were young much of Christendom held that the supposed wine was grape juice. Not wanting to give an unconsidered answer I told him that I would think about it, pray about it, and then write an article about the matter. Hence, the purpose of the article.
I believe the best way to start is to read the text. “1 On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. 3 And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, ‘They have no wine.’4 Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.’ 5 His mother said to the servants, ‘Whatever He says to you, do it.’ 6 Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece. 7 Jesus said to them, ‘Fill the waterpots with water.’ And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And He said to them, ‘Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast.’ And they took it. 9 When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom. 10 And he said to him, ‘Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!’ 11 This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.”
Deliberation! In that day, wine was commonly used, it was a staple of one’s diet and used in various celebrations. Also to be considered, Jewish weddings were religious in nature, not like the weddings of Gentiles. Intoxication would have been strictly forbidden. The next thing to be considered is the word wine which is a translation of the Greek word “oinos.” We should note that this Greek word is no place translated to be grape juice. Thinking about that I visited our friends at Gotquestions.org and found the following:
Throughout this account the Greek word translated “wine” is oinos, which was the common Greek word for normal wine, wine that was fermented/alcoholic. Oinos is the same word that is used in Ephesians 5:18, “…do not get drunk on wine…” Obviously, getting drunk from drinking wine requires the presence of alcohol. Everything, from the context of a wedding feast to the usage of oinos in 1st century Greek literature (in the New Testament and outside the New Testament), argues for the wine that Jesus created to be normal, ordinary wine, containing alcohol. There is simply no solid historical, cultural, exegetical, contextual, or lexical reason to understand it to have been grape juice.
Those who oppose the drinking of alcohol, in any quantity, argue that Jesus would not have turned the water into wine, as He would have been promoting the consumption of a substance that is tainted by sin. In this understanding, alcohol itself is inherently sinful, and consumption of alcohol in any quantity is sin. That is not the biblical understanding, however. Some Scriptures discuss alcohol in positive terms. Ecclesiastes 9:7 instructs, “Drink your wine with a merry heart.” Psalm 104:14-15 states that God gives wine “that makes glad the heart of men.” Amos 9:14 discusses drinking wine from your own vineyard as a sign of God’s blessing. Isaiah 55:1 encourages, “Yes, come buy wine and milk…” From these and other Scriptures, it is clear that alcohol itself is not inherently sinful. Rather, it is the abuse of alcohol, drunkenness and/or addiction, that is sinful (Ephesians 5:18; Proverbs 23:29-35; 1 Corinthians 6:12; 2 Peter 2:19). Therefore, it would not have been a sin for Jesus to create a drink that contained alcohol.
A second, related argument is that by creating alcoholic wine, Jesus would have been promoting drunkenness, which the Bible clearly identifies as sinful. This is not a valid argument. Was Jesus promoting gluttony when He multiplied the fishes and loaves far beyond what the people needed? Of course not. Creating a substance that can be abused does not make one responsible when another person foolishly chooses to abuse it. Jesus creating alcoholic wine was in no sense encouraging drunkenness.
The belief that Jesus created alcoholic wine is definitely more in agreement with the context and the definition/usage of oinos. The primary reasons for interpreting it as grape juice, that alcohol is inherently sinful or that the creation of alcohol would have been encouraging drunkenness, are unbiblical and invalid. There is simply no good biblical reason to understand John 2 as anything other than Jesus performing an amazing miracle by turning water into real wine. Is drunkenness sinful? Absolutely! Is addiction sinful? Definitely. Would Jesus turning the water into alcoholic wine in any way violate God’s standards regarding the consumption of alcohol? Absolutely not! GQ.ORG
Well, there it is. I pray that I have not offended anyone. Hopefully, this will prompt each reader to not just read Scripture but prayerfully consider what it says. Doing so opens up a whole new world.
Steve