Wine – Tantalizing Temptress or Biblical Symbol?

Hold up a glass of wine and what do you see: a sparkling glass of clear liquid; transparent red elegance, sophistication, fruit of the vine, or seductress of evil and debauchery?

 Is wine good for you or bad? Even the health community sends mixed messages. Some doctors say a glass of red wine per day is good for the heart and for circulation. Yet my husband’s Cardiologist said he’d be better off without it; indicating that the benefits are small. 

The Bible also has opposing opinions. In 1 Tim 5:23, Paul said “Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake and thine own infirmities.” The water in Paul’s day was often impure, and the alcoholic content of the wine may have reduced bacteria. 

In this same epistle, Paul tells the leaders of the church: “A bishop must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach; Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous; (1 Tim 3:2-3). 

It appears wine is acceptable, but in moderation.  I was still curious about wine’s place in the church and in my own personal walk with God. I was also curious about this fruity, mysterious drink we call wine. 

I went to a “wine tasting” site; one of the best online, in my opinion. (Wine Lovers Page* http://www.wineloverspage.com/taste/intro.phtml)

 I found some interesting parallels between tasting the fruits of the vine (wine) and tasting the fruits of the spirit. I checked my Bible. There are some interesting symbolisms regarding wine. Here are my findings: 

The first miracle that Jesus performed was changing water into wine. As you may recall, Jesus’ mother, Mary, was upset because their friend, the host at the wedding in Cana, was out of wine and the celebration was still underway. She tells her son, you must help them. 

Jesus is impatient with his mother: “Dear woman, why do you involve me? My time has not yet come?” (John 2:4-5 NIV) 

Having confidence that her son will obey her, Mary tells a servant: “Do whatever he tells you.” 

The servants follow the instructions of Jesus and bring six stone pots, each large enough to hold 20 to 30 gallons of water. Jesus tells them to fill the pots with water. So they fill each to the brim. Then Jesus said: “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.” 

The master of the banquet was so amazed with the taste of the wine that he calls the bridegroom aside: “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.” 

And so the first miracle that the Savior performed was to change water into wine. Why wine? Was it simply because his mother had asked? Or that the feelings of his friends and the needs of the wedding were pressing? Or as with everything else in the Bible, was this red wine a foreshadowing of things to come? 

Even in his many parables, wine was used to make analogies and to illustrate principles. In those days, new goatskins were used to hold newly-made wine; the skins expanded as the wine fermented. Jesus wanted people to know that they, too, must become new creatures in order to understand his gospel and inherit eternal life. 

“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.” (Matt 9:16-17 NIV) 

Jesus continually told his listeners: “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” To do so would be like putting a new person or believing heart into an unchanged and unrepentant body. (John 3:3 NIV) 

“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God…(1 John 5:1) …”We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God (Christ) keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him”…(1 John 5:18 NIV) 

I have family and friends who are not Christian. As I read about wine tasting, I wondered if these same steps could help a seeker of truth: 

The idea behind wine tasting is as simple as this:

• Slow down

Now there’s a concept. Most people want answers right now! They don’t want to wait. They rush on ahead without savoring or tasting the sweetness of the spirit. They fail to let things sink in and to work on them. If they don’t get an instant response to their prayers, they go onto something else. As in wine tasting: slow down and enjoy the moment. Keep your mind open and in a positive frame of mind. 

• Relax and think about what you're tasting;(learning).

Try not to be on edge or ready to pounce at every word you disagree with. When you taste wine, you swish it around your mouth, sensing not only its taste but its texture and weight. Let the message of the gospel penetrate the walls you have built around yourself. Swish the message in your mind and heart; feel its substance and importance in your life. 

“Taste*" doesn't mean only what we sense with our mouths. According to “Wine Lovers Page,” “the word taste also describes the quality of critical discernment, judgment and appreciation that separates most of us from animals at a trough. We taste the joy of victory and the bitterness of defeat. We savor life and we sample the flavor of an experience.”
 

• Enjoy it with all of your senses. (Well, all except hearing. Nobody listens to wine.) In like manner, feel the “message” with all of your senses. If you have followed the prior steps, your antagonistic feelings should be gone. You are relaxed and open to the message, the taste, and the experience of the gospel.
  
   
• Examine its color. Is it clear or hazy, transparent or opaque?

If your mind can’t grasp the message or if you’re confused in any way, stop. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Clarity and transparency are important at this stage. Be a truth seeker. Put self doubts and pre-conceived notions behind you. This is a tasting moment. A teaching moment that could change your life.
 

• Take a deep sniff. What does the wine smell like: fruit? Flowers? Oak or cedar wood? I’ve never really smelled the gospel, but scripture tell us that our prayers are a sweet fragrance to God. Imagine being able to smell good and evil in the same way we smell the fragrance of flowers, or in this case the scent of wine.

When Jesus walked the earth, he likened himself to the “True Vine and my Father is the gardener…No branch can bear fruit by itself: it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me…I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” 

Christ spoke of vineyards, and landlords, and workers using them as an analogy for the kingdom of God. The Israelites knew about grapes. This was a part of their lives; their occupation. When Jesus spoke about the vines and the fruit, they understood. They themselves had trodden the grapes underfoot in the upper vats (winepress), and their efforts produced flowing juices that were collected in the lower vat (winefat). Wine became a tool used in teaching the gospel; a symbol with deep seeded roots in the life, ministry, and the atonement of Jesus Christ. 

During the “Last Supper,” Jesus ate and broke bread with his apostles prior to his arrest and crucifixion. He used red wine to represent his blood; blood which he was about to shed willingly for all mankind -- the first communion. The red color of the wine made it easier for his followers to remember his shed blood; his sacrifice for us.

The purity and clarity of the wine clearly illustrated that his life “was without sin;” the only one who could atone for the evil deeds of mankind. The bread represented his body that would be broken for us. 

The book of Revelation was written by John on the Isle of Patmos during times of great persecution for the early Christian church. Emperor worship was the order of the day. Anyone who refused was jailed or put to death. John was sent to a penal colony on Patmos and from there wrote the visions he experienced. 

Again, wine is used as a symbol in the Book of Revelation, this time to represent God’s anger “the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.” That will occur at his second coming. (Rev 16:19 KJV) And so the symbolism comes full circle. Christ started his earthly ministry with wine, and he will end it with the “wine” of his fury at the end. 

It was no accident that Jesus changed water into wine at the wedding in Cana. The miracle may have come “before my time,” as Jesus protested, but it was not a mistake. With God, there are no mistakes, and the Bible is full of foreshadowing and symbolism. 

The fruits and the vineyards represented our life’s sojourn and the significance of Christ as the “true vine,” without which we cannot return to our Father in Heaven. The wine, a symbol of Christ’s purity, represented his blood that he willingly shed to atone for our sins.