Did Jesus change the water into wine or grape juice?

Answer

The second chapter of John recounts Jesus performing a miracle at a wedding in Cana of Galilee. During the celebration, the hosts ran out of wine. Mary, Jesus’ mother, requests His intervention, and He complies, albeit reluctantly. Jesus instructs the servants to fill six jars with water and then tells them to serve it to the overseer of the feast. The water miraculously transforms into wine, impressing the overseer with its quality. This event showcases Jesus performing a remarkable miracle by changing the molecular structure of water into wine. The significance of this event is encapsulated in John 2:11, where it states, “He revealed His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.” However, a common point of discussion arising from this passage is whether Jesus turned the water into wine (fermented, alcoholic) or grape juice (non-alcoholic).

Throughout the narrative, the Greek term translated as “wine” is oinos, which denoted typical wine, usually fermented and alcoholic. The wine Jesus produced shares the same term as the wine that had run out at the wedding feast. This term is also used in Ephesians 5:18, cautioning against drunkenness from wine. Evidently, intoxication from wine consumption necessitates the presence of alcohol. The setting of a wedding feast and the use of oinos in 1st-century Greek texts (both within and outside the New Testament) strongly suggest that the wine Jesus created was conventional wine, containing alcohol. There is no substantial historical, cultural, exegetical, contextual, or lexical basis to interpret it as grape juice.

Opponents of alcohol consumption, in any amount, argue that Jesus would not have transformed the water into wine, as it would imply endorsing a substance tainted by sin.

In this understanding, alcohol itself is inherently sinful, and consumption of alcohol in any quantity is sin. That is not a biblical understanding, however. Some Scriptures discuss alcohol in positive terms. Ecclesiastes 9:7 instructs, “Drink your wine with a merry heart.” Psalm 104:14-15 states that God gives wine “that makes glad the heart of men.” Amos 9:14 discusses drinking wine from your own vineyard as a sign of God’s blessing. Isaiah 55:1 encourages, “Yes, come buy wine and milk…” From these and other Scriptures, it is clear that alcohol itself is not inherently sinful. Rather, it is the abuse of alcohol, drunkenness, and/or addiction that is sinful (Ephesians 5:18; Proverbs 23:29-35; 1 Corinthians 6:12; 2 Peter 2:19). Therefore, it would not have been a sin for Jesus to create a drink that contained alcohol.

A second, related argument is that by creating alcoholic wine, Jesus would have been promoting drunkenness, which the Bible clearly identifies as sinful. This is not a valid argument. Was Jesus promoting gluttony when He multiplied the fishes and loaves far beyond what the people needed? Of course not. Creating a substance that can be abused does not make one responsible when another person foolishly chooses to abuse it. Jesus creating alcoholic wine was in no sense encouraging drunkenness.

The belief that Jesus created alcoholic wine is definitely more in agreement with the context and the definition/usage of oinos. The primary reasons for interpreting it as grape juice, that alcohol is inherently sinful, or that the creation of alcohol would have been encouraging drunkenness, are unbiblical and invalid. There is simply no good biblical reason to understand John 2 as anything other than Jesus performing an amazing miracle by turning water into real wine. Is drunkenness sinful? Absolutely! Is addiction sinful? Definitely. Would Jesus turning the water into wine have been promoting sin? No.

Does turning water into wine in any way violate God’s standards regarding the consumption of alcohol? Absolutely not!