START YOUR DAY RIGHT DAILY DEVOTION
After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.
THIS CUP / 1 CORINTHIANS 11:25
Did Jesus use fermented or unfermented grape juice when He introduced the spiritual symbolism of the Lord’s Supper, communion (Matthew 26:26-29; Matthew 26:28; Mark 14:22-25; Luke 22:17-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26)? The following information supports the conclusion that Jesus and His disciples probably drank unfermented grape juice on that occasion.
- Neither Luke nor any other Biblical writer uses the word “wine” (Greek oinos) in referring to the Lord’s Supper (the “last supper” Jesus shared with His disciples before His death). The first three Gospel writers use “fruit of the vine” (Matthew 26:29; Mark 14:25; Luke 22:18), suggesting that it was pure, natural, and unfermented wine.
- The Lord’s Supper (which serves as a reminder of what Jesus did in giving His life for us, Luke 22:19; 1 Corinthians 11:24-25) was established when Jesus and His disciples were eating the Passover meal. The Passover law in Exodus 12:14-20 prohibited, during Passover week, the presence and use of seor (Exodus 12:15), a term used to refer to yeast or anything that can cause fermentation. In addition, all hametz (anything that contained fermentation) was forbidden (Exodus 12:19; 13:7). God had given these laws because yeast and fermentation often symbolized corruption and sin (Matthew 16:6, 12; 1 Corinthians 5:6-8). Since Jesus fulfilled the law in every respect (Matthew 5:17), it seems that He would have followed this law for the Passover and not have used fermented wine.
- The value of a symbol is determined by how well or correctly it represents the spiritual reality that one is attempting to communicate. Consider the fact THE BREAD REPRESENTING Christ’s pure body had to be unleavened (flat and unraised, unfermented, “uncorrupted” = made without yeast). To use unfermented wine would have been an effort to follow the same principle. After all, the wine symbolized the precious blood of Christ, without blemish or defect (1 Peter 1:18-19).
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