There are those who believe that proper drink for the Lord’s Supper is οινος (wine).[1] To be able to see if this is what Jesus was telling the Apostles and then the church to partake of, one must go to the passages in which it is recorded what Jesus told the disciples. Those passages are: Matt. 26:29, Mark 14:25, Luke 22:18 and 1 Cor. 11:25.
In Matthew 26:29 Jesus refers to the drink as “the fruit of the vine.” One might say that since wine is a common drink and one that was drunk by many Jews[2] that when Jesus made a reference to the “fruit of the vine” then what He was really referring to was wine. This seems like a sound argument except that there were also words for non-alcoholic drinks that came from the vine too.[3] Therefore, this passage does not allow one to interpret “fruit of the vine” as being a reference to wine.
Mark 14:22-25 is the next passage that records the words of Jesus when He instituted the Lord’s Supper. In verse 23 Mark says that Jesus “took the cup,” and in verse 25 says “fruit of the vine.” There is no need to make mention of the “fruit of the vine,” but it is interesting that Jesus took the “cup.” The word οινος is not used in this passage and one would have to have a presupposition to put it in that passage because the passage does not say that. Also it does not make sense for Jesus to be drinking wine because Jesus knew what was about to happen. He was about to be crucified. Jesus did not want anything that would be a pain killer because He rejected the wine when they crucified Him (Mark 15:23). Why would Jesus drink wine with the disciples but then reject it at the cross? It does not make sense therefore this passage does not advocate that Jesus was using wine. Luke 22:18 and 1 Corinthian 11:25 records the same words as does Mark that Jesus took the “cup.” So those passages do not advocate for wine being used either.
In the context of 1 Corinthians 11 there does seem to be a good argument against the use of wine in the Lord’s Supper.
The proper drink to use is a fruit from the vine. It is best to use grapes because grapes give a red tint to the drink and the drink is supposed to symbolize the blood of Christ. Another reason not to use wine is for testimony sake. The culture understands that wine is a drink that is drunk to be intoxicated. Wine is associated with the world. One can not get away from that stigma. Therefore one should not drink wine.
Some might want to argue that the church does not need to worry about what the world thinks about the church. This is a bad philosophy. In Venezuela the Catholic church uses wine and the Venezuelans understand that the priest are a drunks. Of course not every priest is a drunk but people stereotype. A Catholic priest cannot tell a Venezuelan not to drink because they all know that the priest drinks at each mass. They have lost there testimony and therefore they have lost the ability to tell people to live on a higher standard because they are not living a holy lifestyle.
Wine should not be used because the text does not support the idea. There is more than one word for beverages that come from grape. Which implies that they drank other drinks other than just wine. Therefore one should not use wine in the Lord’s Supper.
[1] Bauer, Gingrich and Danker, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 562. “wine, normally the fermented juice of the grape.”
[2] Larousse Gastronomique 2001, s.v. “Wine.”
[3] Bauer, Gingrich and Danker, 562.
