Notes on Jesus and Alcohol

Did Jesus drink alcohol? Yes of course he did. Many people wish to reshape Jesus into God as they wish him to be but we must accept what the Bible tells us. Jesus drank Oxos on the cross. Oxos is often translated as vinegar. Oxos could also be translated as cheap wine or sour wine but even if it is vinegar it still contains alcohol. Since Jesus drank alcohol then the question is , how much?

In John 2:1 - 10 Jesus creates wine in his first miracle. The "governor of the feast" uses the phrase "when men have well drunk" KJV or as the new International Version translates it, "guests have had too much to drink."NIV. For people to have become inebriated on the first batch of wine we know that the wine that Jesus replaced contained alcohol. Nowhere does it say the wine he created from water was alcohol free.

In Luke 7:34 we are told that the Pharisees called Jesus a winebibber. From the Greek word Oinopotes, a winebibber is a wine drinking alcoholic. By the context it is obvious that the comment is an exaggeration but it is not apparently a falsehood especially when taken with the fact that Jesus consumed alcohol on the cross.

So I think we can say that the Bible clearly says that Jesus drank in moderation.

Luke Chapter 7 - full text

John Chapter 2 - full text

References in Scripture

Leviticus 10:9 - 11

Proverbs 31:4 - 5

Habakkuk 2:15

Isaiah 5:11
Matthew 11:19
Matthew 26:29

9 Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations:

10 And that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean;

11 And that ye may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the LORD hath spoken unto them by the hand of Moses.

Proverbs 31:4 - 5

4 It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink:

5 Lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted.

Habakkuk 2:15

15 Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, that puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness!

Isaiah 5:11

11 Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them!

12 And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the LORD, neither consider the operation of his hands.

13 Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst.

14 Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.

Matthew 11:19

19 The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children.

Matthew 26:29

29 But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.

Matthew 27:34

34 They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink.

Matthew 27:48

48 And straightway one of them ran, and took a spunge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink.

Luke 7:34

34 The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners!

John 2:1 - 10

1 And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there:

2 And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage.

3 And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine.

4 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.

5 His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.

6 And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece.

7 Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim.

8 And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it.

9 When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom,

10 And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now.

Oxos, 1.vinegar a.the mixture of sour wine or vinegar and water which the Roman soldiers were accustomed to drink". Strong's Number: 3690 Oxos - KJV Greek Lexicon

"Vinegars do still contain some level of alcohol. The "vinegar" taste is actually due to acetic acid, but the chemical transformation is never fully complete". Christine Ticknor Ph.D. Student,Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, for the U. S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory-West. Vinegar and Alcohol

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