Communion “Wine”
When Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper, He commanded the use of “wine” and “unleavened” bread. We have no problem with the “unleavened” bread, do we? We all acknowledge that that is simply bread that has no yeast or any other agent which causes it to rise, such as baking soda or baking powder. But what about the “wine”?
In Luke 22:17-18, Jesus used a word that some find to be a stumbling block. WINE (fermented grape juice with some amount of alcoholic content) is fruit of the vine. GRAPE JUICE (unfermented juice of the grape) is also fruit of the vine. (When I was quite young, my grandmother used to make fermented grape juice—wine—for the communion. This was the accepted practice in those days.) Technically, based purely on the definition of the word, either wine or grape juice might be used. To say that either is right and the other wrong is to make a law which God has not made. That, in and of itself, is a grave sin (I Timothy 4:3).
HOWEVER, there are very good reasons that most congregations today use UNFERMENTED grape juice. (There are no scriptures which command either. In that case, God has left it up to us to decide which to use.) Generally unfermented juice is used for the following reasons:
- To many people, including younger Christians, the taste of wine is not pleasing. Conversely, most people enjoy the taste of unfermented grape juice. Since God has not specified either, it seems better to use that which is more palatable.
- Grape juice is readily available in most grocery stores. While wine is becoming more accessible in almost any grocery store, it may not be in the best interest of the Christian to be seen checking out with a quantity of wine. If it is necessary to go to a liquor store to purchase the wine, that is even more damaging to the reputation of the Christian, and, therefore, to be avoided.
- Although rare, it is possible for a recovering alcoholic to be tempted beyond resistance by the taste of the wine. We should never do anything that might cause a weaker brother to sin.
I, personally, have never visited a congregation that used fermented wine in the last 50 years. Now that unfermented grape juice is so plentiful and so easily obtain and stored, it has become the norm. While I would not refuse fermented wine for the communion, I would never suggest that that should be the normal thing for the reasons stated above.
What do you think?
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Posted on August 8th, 2009 by doc
Filed under: Christian Example, Word study
