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Grape Juice or Wine?

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Grape Juice or Wine?

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Grape Juice or Wine?

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What was in the Passover cup? Some say it was grape juice. Some say it was wine. What was it and why does it matter?

Transcript

I think we're all aware that Passover is coming up very soon. And it's a very important holy day, as are all holy days, because it signifies a lot of things that are critical to our faith, growth, and commitment as Christians. We know when the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt that it was critical for them to observe the Passover correctly. It literally meant life or death to them.

Let's turn to Exodus chapter 12 to see the instructions of God given to the Israelite back then. We won't go over the whole story but just in Exodus 12, just before Israel's departure from Egypt, God gives them instructions: Exo 12:1 Now the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, Exo 12:2 "This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you. Exo 12:3 Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: 'On the tenth of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. Now this year the first day of the 1st month on the Hebrew calendar begins this Monday night at sunset.... Exo 12:4 And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons; according to each man's need you shall make your count for the lamb.

Exo 12:5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. The lamb of course represents Jesus Christ, without blemish which represents his sinless life... Exo 12:6 Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. Exo 12:7 And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. And this is a very important command. It has to do with blood Blood of the slain lamb and what it represents. The blood itself was a sign, a symbol of something. Skip to verse 11... Exo 12:11 And thus you shall eat it: with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. It is the LORD's Passover.

Exo 12:12 'For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. Exo 12:13 Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. Exo 12:14 'So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance. As verse 13 says it was a sign. Now I wonder...did God need that sign? He IS God after all. All-knowing, the creator of heaven and earth he knows every star by name... why doesn't he know which ones are Israelites and which weren't? Why go through all that? Was it just to test them? Was it to test their obedience? Well maybe. But the verse says why there wasa a sign...it was a sign for them, for the Israelites.

The King James bible reads “Exo 12:13 And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are:” The blood shall be to YOU a token. The blood was a token, a symbol, for the Isralietes. It represented what God had promised...that the blood of the lamb would save them But God didn't just say “paint these marks on your door.” He explained why. He explained how. He explained when. So it was critical for the Israelite to know and understand WHY they were doing this. Why this shed blood was put on their doorway. Because if they didn't know and understand WHY they might not have done it. They might have thought it wasn't important. They might not have understood that the blood on the door symbolized. . They might never have understood that the blood symbolized that people within the dwelling would be passed over by death. That they would not die. And it's the same way with us today. Symbols are just as important.

If we don't understand the meaning of the blood and why we do what we do then OUR passover might become less important to us. We might question what we do. We might question the examples Christ gave us. And we might get distracted from the purpose of the Passover ceremony and meaning and symbolism of the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Let's turn to Luke chapter 22 and read an account of a new testament Passover. Passover was the last holy day that Jesus Christ observed before his sacrificial death. The observance of the last Passover of our Lord is reported in all four accounts of his life....the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John so God has attached great significance to the event.. Luk 22:7 Then came the Day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover must be killed. Luk 22:8 And He sent Peter and John, saying, "Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat." So here is Christ getting ready and giving instructions for the Passover meal which we saw earlier in Exodus. Luk 22:9 So they said to Him, "Where do You want us to prepare?" Luk 22:10 And He said to them, "Behold, when you have entered the city, a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him into the house which he enters.

Luk 22:11 Then you shall say to the master of the house, 'The Teacher says to you, "Where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with My disciples?" ' Luk 22:12 Then he will show you a large, furnished upper room; there make ready." Luk 22:13 So they went and found it just as He had said to them, and they prepared the Passover. So they go and find the room and prepare the Passover meal. If this were a traditional Passover meal there would be a number of preparations. Scripture doesn't really go into that here but we'll see there are some preparations that are mentioned. Luk 22:14 When the hour had come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him. Luk 22:15 Then He said to them, "With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; Luk 22:16 for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God." Luk 22:17 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, "Take this and divide it among yourselves; Luk 22:18 for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes."

Luk 22:19 And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me." Luk 22:20 Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you. So here we see the origins of our Passover ceremony. A sharing of two things. These two things symbolize the body and blood of Jesus Christ. Christ gave his body as a sacrifice just as the sacrificial lamb did for the Israelite. And the blood of Christ was, or was about to be, shed for us just as the blood of the lamb was shed for the Israelite. The disciples that were there at the last passover certainly must have told many others because it's well documented. So the significance of the symbols he used to represent his body and blood were not lost on some early Christians. Let's turn to 1 Corinthians 11.

In first Corinthians chapter 11 Paul was writing to the church and he had heard that when they were observing the passover that they were treating it kind of lightly I guess. With not enough understanding of the true meaning of what they were doing. So he had to put them straight. And we'll pick it up in verse 23 of 1 Corinthians chapter 11. 1Co 11:23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; 1Co 11:24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me." 1Co 11:25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me." 1Co 11:26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes.

1Co 11:27 Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 1Co 11:28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 1Co 11:29 For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. So again we can see that Paul brings up again these two symbols that Jesus Christ instituted . The ceremony. t's pretty hard to get around the fact that this ceremony is commanded of Christians. It's mentioned in all four gospels and Paul retells important details here. .Yet we know that traditional Christianity has stopped observing the Passover as Passover because they believe the holy days of the Lord Jesus Christ, the days that he created and kept, are no longer relevant under the new covenant. We of course disagree with this and don't see any scriptural justification for it.

Traditional Christianity is based in large upon tradition. Anytime tradition is involved sometimes that tradition is right, but often it's wrong and practices come about that are based on the wrong reasons. So traditional Christianity decided that “Passover” was done with. But they kept something. They kept these two symbols and adapted them into what most call either “Communion”, 'The Eucharist” or “The Lord's Supper”. They keep these ceremonies and use these two symbols in these ceremonies. But everyone does it a little differently. Catholics believe that these symbols are NOT symbols, but actually turn into the body and blood of Christ when taken in. I know I'm probably grossly oversimplying that and I apologize to any Catholics that may hear this. Most of the protestants believe though that they are symbols. Catholics generally observe communion every single week. Protestants run the gamut. Some denominations do it every week. Some every other week. Some once a month. Some on special days. There's really no consensus on that. How about the symbols?

Again, that's all over the map. Eastern rite Catholics use leavened bread for the body of Christ and from what I understand they symbolize it as the risen Christ or as new life. Western Catholics use unleavened bread because they believe that's what Christ used in the last Passover supper. But either are acceptable in Catholicism due to a ruling of a church council in 1439. In the protestant world either one again is used. Most I would guess use leavened bread. Many just go buy a loaf of bread and portion it out. The Church of God of course has a rather strict requirement. It MUST be unleavened because not only does it begin the days of unleavened bread but also because the bread, and nothing else, represents his pure, sinless life. We can look at the practices of traditional Christianity and see that drift away from what is strictly biblical to what is traditional. If we don't stay grounded in Christ and in the days he created for us then that drift can happen to us to. We've seen that in the past. We can certainly see it with the unleavened bread....the drift first from Passover, to Easter. Then drift from observing the symbols of Passover on Passover to observing them basically whenever they want.

Then the drift from unleavened bread to leavened bread or to whatever type of bread they want. The symbol of unleavened bread has been changed basically for social pressures. Or to get along. Or convenience. But not because of anything biblical. What about the other symbol? The contents of the cup? Catholics drink wine. I think Lutherans and maybe a few others use wine in the protestant world, But many, if not most, protestant groups, use grape juice or at least offer the choice of grape juice. Was there a drift here also? Just as we went from unleavened bread to the “breads not important”, was there a similar shift involving wine and grape juice?. There was. But this time it's very easy to trace, very well documented and very easy to understand because it happened a relatively short time ago. Let's spend a few minutes talking about this because it's fascinating and very instructive. It shows how quickly things can drift if we're not careful. Because in a span of maybe 150 years, the churches of traditional Christianity went from using only wine in their communion or Lord's Supper services to offering either only grape juice or a choice of grape juice or wine.

Where and when and why did this happen? To find this out we have to examine some history. Prior to the 1800's all traditional Christian churches used wine in their observance of the Lord's supper, Eucharist, or communion. Not some, but all. In other words, it was clearly distinguished by everyone, from scripture and tradition, that wine was what was in the cup when Christ had his final passover. There was no question. There was no argument. But during the 1800's something happened. Liquor had always been available. But making large quantities of alcohol required time and so to buy alcohol was relatively expensive. But in 1828 in Ireland, a man name Sir Anthony Perrier, who operated a distillery, patented a device called a continuous still. We've heard of “stills” of course...they’re used to produce liquor. The practical effect of this invention though was that it greatly increased the amount of alcohol that could be distilled. Every other distiller quickly started using this type of still. In America, rum was being distilled very cheaply anyways due to it's base ingredient, molasses. Which could be bought very cheaply. Later whiskey became cheap and popular due to the vast fields of grain in the new United States.

The result was that Europe and America was soon flooded with cheap, affordable alcohol. Practically anyone could now afford to buy vast quantities of liquor. The result of this was predictable: Drunkenness and alcoholism and the resulting damage to families, property and society in general from these things skyrocketed. In a reaction to this there arose what history has called the “Temperance Movement”. These were generally groups that rallied against alcohol...sometimes just against drinking too much, but often against drinking at all. It was a huge movement and it had a large influence on society and even on state and local governments. This movement grew and grew and eventually led to a constitutional amendment that outlawed all alcohol in America in 1920. Due to the temperance movement in the 1800's many protestant churches took the position of being against alcohol and many began to question the use of alcoholic wine during their communion or Lords' supper. . For example, the Wesleyan church was founded in 1842 when many ministers and members split from the Methodist church. One of it's founding beliefs of the Wesleyan church was that it was strongly opposed (1) the "manufacturing, buying, selling, or using intoxicating liquors”.

So some churches began substituting grape juice. However there was a problem. Grape juice doesn't stay grape juice very long. Grape juice always begins to ferment as soon as it's pressed due to naturally occurring yeast that grows on the skins of the grape and from the yeast that's naturally in the air. . This process has been known at least since Noah and likely before. It's difficult to stop. On it's own all grape juice will almost immediately begin to ferment.. They could boil it and that would kill the yeast. But as soon as it cooled down, yeast would repopulate it so it wouldn't keep for very long before once again beginning the fermentation process. They could cool it and this would stop the process, but this was prior to effective refrigeration processes. So using grape juice in communion or at the Lords' supper grew, but not all that quickly due to the logistics of keeping large quantities of fresh juice.. Until..until a member of the Wesleyan started pasteurizing grape juice. Pasteurization is simply heating a product to a temperature sufficient to kill or stop what you're trying to kill or stop. But heating it isn't enough because once it cools, it can get contaminated again.

The biggest element of pasteurization is being able effectively heat it WHILE it's sealed and good sealing methods hadn't been invented until the early 1800's. The french government offered a cash reward to anyone would could come up with a method of sealing food so that soldiers could carry it longer without spoiling. Someone did and it was better than what they had but the food itself would still spoil due to the bacteria already present. So the proper amount of heat and an air tight sealing system are what's needed for pasteurization Canning, for example, with the mason jars and boiling water and what not, is a method of pasteurization. So in 1869 this member of the Wesleyan church, who was dentist by trade, experimented and found a process for canning and heating grape juice so that the yeast would die and since it was sealed while heating no new yeast could enter as long as it stayed sealed. This member began to sell his product to local churches and convinced them to use it in their communion services. He initially called this product “Dr. Welch's Unfermented Wine.” This man's name was Thomas Bramwell Welch.

He and his son were dentists and this was kind of like a side business for them. They would sell it to churches in their area and so at first it grew slowly. Thomas Welch was a staunch prohibitionist, he wanted all liquor outlawed. So in 1890 they begin to really expand and market their Unfermented wine business. And in 1893, Welch's Grape Juice Company was officially launched. Yup, that Welch's grape juice. That one that's around today was originally created because of the concern that having alcohol used in communion wine was not right. All arguments claiming to be based on scripture that it was grape juice and not wine used as Passover were essentially created in the 1800's by protestant churches to justify using grape juice instead of wine. This isn't my opinion. It's not not my interpretation. It's common knowledge even among traditional Christians and it's very well documented.

The United Methodist Book of Worship says, copyrighted in 1992 says "Although the historic and ecumenical (or universal, across the board) Christian practice has been to use wine, the use of unfermented grape juice by The United Methodist Church and its predecessors since the late nineteenth century expresses pastoral concern for recovering alcoholics, enables the participation of children and youth, and supports the church's witness of abstinence." So one of the organizations responsible for the switch to grape juice recognizes that it changed due to social issues and not because of any other reason. While researching this I found an excellent article on the Christianity Today website called “New wine, New Wineskins” by Jennifer Woodruff Tait. The article explains how grape juice came about including Dr. Welchs' contribution. I want to read to you a paragraph about how bible scholars tried to justify this biblically: “Believing both in the authority of Scripture and the scientific proof of alcohol's poisonous nature, Protestant theologians and exegetes tried to explain the Bible's positive use of the word wine, not least Jesus' command to his disciples to remember him by consuming it. Led by biblical commentator Frederic Lees, they theorized that several Hebrew and Greek words used to mean wine in the Bible actually referred to grape juice. Jesus had instituted the Eucharist with the unfermented "fruit of the vine," whereas the ferment of intoxication represented "the leaven of the Pharisees," symbolizing corruption and decay.” Is that true?

Does fermented wine have anything to do with symbolizing sin? No, it's the days of unleavened BREAD. Not the days of unleavened wine. Or unleavened beer. And even in the traditional Christian world nobody tried to make this argument prior to this. Now what's really ironic is that in the protestant world there seems to be an awakening, at least judging by my little bit of research. I found dozens of blogs, opinions and letters from Protestants who want their churches to RETURN to using wine because they see that grape juice was an invented substitute. Now I was asked if I would give my thoughts and opinions on a paper that someone showed me that advocated for grape juice. And don't get me wrong I was glad to do that. In fact, I'm very grateful because it gave me the opportunity to study the subject and to try and answer some of the things in the paper. So thanks for bringing it forth. Mr. Joseph also did quite a bit of research. He found that United Church of God doesn't have a study paper on this and that it doesn't really come up too much as a question. And it really doesn't . But there are a few websites that have archives of practically everything that the old Worldwide Church of God put out.

I found that in one of the Ambassador College Correspondence course, number 25, states specifically that wine and not grape juice is to be used. Likewise there a few mentions in articles dating back to the 50's that it should be wine and not grape juice. Let's try to answer a couple of concerns. And again none of these were new concerns . All of them in one form or the other, had been raised in the 1800's. One of the arguments invented in the 1800's was that it never says there was “wine” in the cup at Passover, therefore it was probably grape juice. Well, it never says it was grape juice either. But let's look at what it does say. Let's go back to Luke 22 for that. Luk 22:15 Then He said to them, "With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; Luk 22:16 for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God." Luk 22:17 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, "Take this and divide it among yourselves; Luk 22:18 for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes." He calls it “Fruit of the Vine”. Well technically the pure fruit of the vine is grapes. Not grape juice and not wine. But we can't drink grapes.

Therefore this phrase must be a euphemism. And of course it was a euphemism for wine. The proof of this can be found on the Wikipedia website article titled: “List of Jewish Prayers and Blessings”. This article outlines all of the occasions that prayers are said and the format that the prayer should take. One of these is a blessing or a prayer that must be said before drinking wine. I'll read the entry to you: “Before drinking wine – Ha-Gafen This blessing is made for wine made from grapes, but not any other fermented drink. Wine made from other fruits, and other alcohols, require the Shehakol blessing . Also, hands might be ritually washed first depending on the minhag of the person saying the blessing on the grape wine (see above). Transliteration: Barukh atah Adonai Eloheinu Melekh ha'olam, bo're p'ri ha'gafen. Translation: "Blessed are You, LORD, our God, King of the universe, Who creates the fruit of the vine." So there's no mystery or controversy about why Christ called the wine “fruit of the vine” and not wine. It was a standard blessing that every Jewish person said over grape wine. Not grape juice, but over wine only. Any person of hebrew descent during the time of Christ when they hear the term “Fruit of Vine” used in the context of passover or any ceremony would instantly know that it was wine.

Another argument I read that supposedly proves that it was grape juice and not wine in the cup is found in verse 18 of Luke 22: Luk 22:18 for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes." The argument goes that since he said he wouldn't drink “the fruit of the vine” until the kingdom, then if he did drink wine later then “fruit of the vine” couldn't be wine because Christ wouldn't lie. So it had to be grape juice in the cup. Well is that true? Did he drink wine? Let's turn first to Matthew 27 and this is the account of the torture and crucifixion of Christ: Mat 27:31 And when they had mocked Him, they took the robe off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to be crucified. Mat 27:32 Now as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. Him they compelled to bear His cross. Mat 27:33 And when they had come to a place called Golgotha, that is to say, Place of a Skull, Mat 27:34 they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink. But when He had tasted it, He would not drink. Mat 27:35 Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet: "THEY DIVIDED MY GARMENTS AMONG THEM, AND FOR MY CLOTHING THEY CAST LOTS."

Notice that he is given this wine BEFORE being on the cross. Most commentators say that the wine mixed with gall, or myrr, was sort of a anesthesia...it would lessen his suffering. He refused it though because his suffering was part of what he needed to go through to become our perfect sacrifice. So he tasted, but did not drink. Let's turn now to John chapter 19: Joh 19:23 Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments and made four parts, to each soldier a part, and also the tunic. Now the tunic was without seam, woven from the top in one piece. So we can see now that he's crucified, he's on the cross or stake, whatever it was. Skip to verse 28: Joh 19:28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, "I thirst!" Joh 19:29 Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. So he's up there, they fill a sponge with sour wine, put it on a stick, and put it to his mouth. Joh 19:30 So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit. So did he drink? Well, it doesn't say that. It says that he “received it”. But that word translated “received” has nothing to do with drinking. It can have many meanings but drinking or sipping isn't one of them.

But one of the definitions of that word translated “received” from Thayer's Definitions of the greek language is: catch at, reach after, strive to obtain”. So he could have just tried to get it but was not successful. Think about it that it wouldn't be too easy in the state he was in to see or even move his head enough to suck at it and drink. But what if he did drink? Would tha matter? It probably doesn't because the whole question of whether he drank wine or not after Passover is kind of built on a false premise. Let's turn back to Luke 22 again and we'll explain that statement: Luk 22:14 When the hour had come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him. Luk 22:15 Then He said to them, "With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; Luk 22:16 for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God." Let's look at words. He desires to eat the passover. I think we can understand to mean that he's talking about the ceremony or the event when he says “passover.” And in verse 16 he says he will no longer “eat of it” until fulfilled in the kingdom. Eat of what? The ceremony, the passover. In other words, he predicting his death.

He's basically saying “I really wanted to do this Passover with you guys because this is the last passover I'll observe until I'm in the kingdom.” Luk 22:18 for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes." In verse 18 he used the blessing words “fruit of the vine” and again probably just saying that he won't be having any more of the wine of Passover, the wine used in the ceremony. This is made more clear in Matthew 26: Mat 26:27 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. Mat 26:28 For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. Mat 26:29 But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom." Note how it says “I will not drink of THIS fruit of the vine”. All but the most loosest translations add the English word “THIS” ...THIS fruit of the vine.

What fruit of the vine? The wine being observed as the blood of his new covenant. THIS wine. This was also the conclusion of a Good News article from March 1987 by Phillip Stevens “Did Christ Break His Word?”..that he was referring to observing the wine drinking as part of the Passover ceremony. There's another theory worth mentioning. Jews today have a custom, a tradition, of having a Seder meal on Passover. It's a ritualized ceremonial dinner that is observed much the same way by jews around the world. In this dinner there are four cups of wine, each representing a particular concept, that must be ritually drunk by everyone who is participating. Under this theory Christ and his disciples likewise had 4 cups of wine. The 3rd cup was called the cup of blessing or the cup of redemption. It would have been this cup that Jesus set as the cup of the new covenant. The 4th cup though was to represent In Exodus 6:7.... "I will take you as My people (called out ones) and I will be your God." Under this theory he did not drink the 4th cup and promised not to drink it until coming into the kingdom to make that verse literally come true. But in either theory though it's clear, wine was an integral part of the ceremony.

So instead of “Fruit of the Vine:” being a confusing term we can see it for what it is...an affirmation that the Passover holds a special blessing...that Christ promised he would observe it again in the kingdom with bread and wine. So after researching it's remarkably clear from multiple sources that wine, biblically, historically and for the most traditionally until at least the 1800's was what Christ used in his cup on passover. And so we too use the symbols of bread and wine. And this symbol of bread and wine doesn't just appear in this account of the passover, it occurs again and again in scripture. Let's turn to Genesis chapter 14: Gen 14:18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. Gen 14:19 And he blessed him and said: "Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; Gen 14:20 And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand." And he gave him a tithe of all. Now we know from the book of Hebrews that the ministry of Christ is according to the order of Melchizedek and NOT the order of the Levites or the Aaronic priesthood. And what part of what scant mention there IS of Melchizedek in the old testament is found here. And what does he bring? Bread and wine, the very same symbols that Christ instituted on his final Passover.

Let's look at Psalm 104 now.... Psa 104:14 He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, And vegetation for the service of man, That he may bring forth food from the earth, Psa 104:15 And wine that makes glad the heart of man, Oil to make his face shine, And bread which strengthens man's heart. If we look at the wording of this Psalm it's very similar to the Jewish prayer. This psalm is singing the praises of God for wine and bread. Future prophecies of God's kingdom make it clear that wine is a blessing from God for man: Amo 9:13 "Behold, the days are coming," says the LORD, "When the plowman shall overtake the reaper, And the treader of grapes him who sows seed; The mountains shall drip with sweet wine, And all the hills shall flow with it. Amo 9:14 I will bring back the captives of My people Israel; They shall build the waste cities and inhabit them; They shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them; They shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them.

Amo 9:15 I will plant them in their land, And no longer shall they be pulled up From the land I have given them," Says the LORD your God. There is of course much more to be said about the shed blood of Christ and what exactly it represents because the wine if just a symbol of that greater reality. But there is a reason WHY Christ tells us to these things. Let's turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 11 again for our final scripture: .1Co 11:23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; 1Co 11:24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me." 1Co 11:25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me." Do it in remembrance of Christ. We've seen how traditional Christianity has veered away from the holy days of the Lord.

We've seen how the symbols of bread and wine have drifted and been corrupted. We've seen how quickly the bible can be abandoned when the pressures of society, the cares of the world, are pressing in. Wine or grape juice? It may seem like a small thing but there is no part of God 's plan that is small. There is no part that is not important. There is no part that does not have meaning. When we sit down in a couple of weeks to remember the sacrifice of Christ let's focus on the blood of Christ...the blood of our Passover lamb...the blood that will save us from certain death.