Did Jesus drink alcohol?

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Dino246

Senior Member
Jun 30, 2015
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#61
I'm not concerned about whether Jesus drank alcoholic wine. I am concerned that anyone is taking Steven Anderson seriously.
 

Nehemiah6

Senior Member
Jul 18, 2017
26,074
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#62
Part of the reason that prompted this question is that Pastor Steven Anderson said that "oene" in the NT refers to non-alcoholic fruit juice. I'd be interested in reading others' opinions.
Nazarites and priests (including the High Priest) were forbidden to drink alcohol or any strong drink. Since Christ is our Great High Priest and was also virtually a Nazarite, He would not have violated that requirement.
 

Magenta

Senior Member
Jul 3, 2015
60,347
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#63
Nazarites and priests (including the High Priest) were forbidden to drink alcohol or any strong drink. Since
Christ is our Great High Priest and was also virtually a Nazarite, He would not have violated that requirement.
Scripture does not identify Jesus as a Nazarite :rolleyes:
 

JohnDB

Well-known member
Jan 16, 2021
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#64
Eh? Where does it say that?
Right after the Pharisees said something to Jesus about his disciples not washing...then the whole thing about what goes into a body doesn't make a person unclean.
 

Edify

Well-known member
Jan 27, 2021
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#65
Nazarites and priests (including the High Priest) were forbidden to drink alcohol or any strong drink. Since Christ is our Great High Priest and was also virtually a Nazarite, He would not have violated that requirement.
I never read anywhere Jesus was a virtual Nazarite.
But you DO bring up a valid point of Jesus being our Great High Priest.
It reminded me that we are joint heirs of Christ & have been made priests of His kingdom.
Now that certainly shakes things up about the church, doesn't it?;)
 

JohnDB

Well-known member
Jan 16, 2021
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#66
Scripture does not identify Jesus as a Nazarite:rolleyes:
Now just before he was crucified and right after the last supper Jesus took the Nazarite vows by declaring "I shall not taste the fruit of the grape until..."

Because He was heading into The Sabbath Day that had been alluded to since the Ten Commandments had been given.
And indeed they pulled out his beard and...well...you get it.
 

JohnDB

Well-known member
Jan 16, 2021
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#67
I never read anywhere Jesus was a virtual Nazarite.
But you DO bring up a valid point of Jesus being our Great High Priest.
It reminded me that we are joint heirs of Christ & have been made priests of His kingdom.
Now that certainly shakes things up about the church, doesn't it?;)
Priesthood of every believer started with John the Baptist in that we can handle scriptures and recite them to others and we can ask God to forgive us of our sins without a priest doing it for us.

Before this it was verboten to even attempt such things....Uzziah tried and got leprosy and caused an earthquake for even trying to do it.
 

Edify

Well-known member
Jan 27, 2021
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#68
1Peter 2:4And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by people, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, 5you also, as living stones, [j]are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6For this is contained in [k]Scripture:
“BEHOLD, I AM LAYING IN ZION A CHOICE STONE, A PRECIOUS CORNERSTONE,
AND THE ONE WHO BELIEVES IN [l]HIM WILL NOT BE [m]PUT TO SHAME.” 7This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for unbelievers,
“A STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED,
THIS BECAME THE [n]CHIEF CORNERSTONE,” 8and,
“A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE”;
for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this they were also appointed.
9
But you are A CHOSEN PEOPLE, A ROYAL PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR GOD’S OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10for you once were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY.

Since we live under a covenant established on better promises, shouldn't we take our role as priest more seriously than the Levites?
Shouldn't that affect how we live & act in public as God's priests?!?
Honestly, I can't see myself in a bar drinking with the world & being God's priest.
 

Magenta

Senior Member
Jul 3, 2015
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#69
Right after the Pharisees said something to Jesus about his disciples not washing...
then the whole thing about what goes into a body doesn't make a person unclean.
I am aware of that scenario... but it does not say Jesus never washed His hands.
 

Pilgrimshope

Well-known member
Sep 2, 2020
14,179
5,727
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#70
Back then, they didn't have refrigeration. The clear reading is that Jesus drank wine. There's nothing wrong with drinking wine. Whereas drinking too much wine is a problem. Scripture warns about overdrinking alcohol. That's how I understand it. Some disagree...so what?
Paul actually advised Timothy to drink some wine rather than only water for his health

“Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities.”
‭‭1 Timothy‬ ‭5:23

and then he says to the church “don’t be drunk on wine “

“And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;”
‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭5:18‬ ‭KJV‬‬


I think the thing is wine isn’t evil , but drinking wine to get drunk is not appropriate because when your drunk you do things you wouldn’t and say things you wouldn’t it alters the mind . To have a glass or two with dinner doesn’t really affect you

it seems wine was a celebratory drink like at weddings I think biblically wine isn’t evil but anything can be evil if we use it that way a lot of times it’s how we partake of things that makes it wrong and not the thing itself

I’d say the person saying it’s fruit juice probably thinks it’s a sin to drink wine and is reasoning Jesus must not have drank any wine but there is no reason for us to think that.

It’s alright to have a glass of wine it seems not alright to get drunk on wine or anything else
 

Magenta

Senior Member
Jul 3, 2015
60,347
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#71
Now just before he was crucified and right after the last supper Jesus took
the Nazarite vows by declaring "I shall not taste the fruit of the grape until..."

Because He was heading into The Sabbath Day that had been alluded to since the Ten
Commandments had been given. And indeed they pulled out his beard and...well...you get it.
The Nazarite vow consisted of more than that...

And also, even if that incident during His crucifixion counted as such, it
would not have been applicable during all the rest of His life preceding then.


Meaning, He was under no compunction to refrain from drinking wine.
 

JohnDB

Well-known member
Jan 16, 2021
6,235
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#72
I am aware of that scenario... but it does not say Jesus never washed His hands.
I was referring to the ceremonial hand washing....not that he showed up to the dinner table with muddy and dirty hands. Huge difference. Of course Jesus bathed and kept himself clean...
 

Magenta

Senior Member
Jul 3, 2015
60,347
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#73
I was referring to the ceremonial hand washing....not that he showed up to the dinner table
with muddy and dirty hands. Huge difference. Of course Jesus bathed and kept himself clean...
Do you mean to say, then, that Jesus never ceremonially washed His hands?

If so, I still don't see where that is specified in Scripture.
 

JohnDB

Well-known member
Jan 16, 2021
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#74
The Nazarite vow consisted of more than that...

And also, even if that incident during His crucifixion counted as such, it
would not have been applicable during all the rest of His life preceding that.
Of course it was not applicable for anytime preceeding that....

But according to the Jews that I knew...that statement by Jesus was an abbreviated way of taking those vows. I was somewhat taken aback by learning this from a former Jewish girlfriend.

All things "jewish" I leaned on her expertise...she was raised Jewish. She had a sinking feeling, because she was adopted, that she actually was Spanish or Portuguese, but she was definitely raised in a Jewish home. Today we got genetic testing that could verify.....however the Jews and the Native Americans have real issues with this.
 
J

joecoten

Guest
#75
I used to have a drinking problem, so I don't drink. I have no problem with someone else drinking, as I don't see drinking forbidden in scripture. Just drunkenness. However, if one believes drinking is a sin, then for them, it is!
 

Magenta

Senior Member
Jul 3, 2015
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#76
Just to add to post #71...

The Nazarite vow could be taken to last for a specified length of time, by men or women.

One of the stipulations was not to go near a dead body.

That right there tells us that Jesus was not a Nazarite during His earthly ministry.
 

JohnDB

Well-known member
Jan 16, 2021
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#77
Do you mean to say, then, that Jesus never ceremonially washed His hands?

If so, I still don't see where that is specified in Scripture.
Where I just said....
Disciples do EXACTLY as their Rabbi does....
If he sneezes at a particular flower you sneeze at that flower....if he breaks the matzah then prays you do it exactly the same way....NO deviations. If your rabbi snores when he sleeps and you dont....well, you learn how.

The Disciples whole job was to completely mimic everything their rabbi did in word and action.
 

Magenta

Senior Member
Jul 3, 2015
60,347
29,594
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#78
Where I just said....
Disciples do EXACTLY as their Rabbi does....
If he sneezes at a particular flower you sneeze at that flower....if he breaks the matzah then prays you do it exactly the same way....NO deviations. If your rabbi snores when he sleeps and you dont....well, you learn how.

The Disciples whole job was to completely mimic everything their rabbi did in word and action.
Where is this in Scripture?
 

JohnDB

Well-known member
Jan 16, 2021
6,235
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#79
Just to add to post #71...

The Nazarite vow could be taken to last for any length of time, by men or women.

One of the stipulations was not to go near a dead body.

That right there tells us that Jesus was not a Nazarite during His earthly ministry.
There was more than that...it especially focused on grapes and grape products. Kinda odd in that respect....but Jesus used it as the locus of his vow.
But also the hair. You either cut it off and shaved your head at the start or not. (Elisha, kids and bears) and again at the end. But not during. Which is what got Sampson in trouble.
 

Melach

Well-known member
Mar 28, 2019
2,055
1,524
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#80
Yes, he did. Consider the topography of Jesus day.

Wine nourishes the body. And when water is not the "turn the tap and drink your fill" luxury it is for us today, a life saver.

Remember too, the wedding at Cana. Just turned water stored in stone jars I to wine at his mother's request.

If drinking alcoholic beverages is a sin, Jesus contributed to sinners ability to sin by making jars full of wine. Rather than leaving the people water to drink.

Of course Jesus could never sin.

Drinking alcoholic beverages is not a sin. Becoming drunk, losing or compromising your faculties, is.

Hope that helps.
also remember, the people at the wedding said you saved the best wine for last. now, would anyone be saying that if it was grape juice? wow man. you really gave us the best grape juice for last.