Did Jesus Drink Alcohol? Should Christians Drink Alcohol?

In Scripture, we have several things said about alcohol. In answer to that question, 'Did Jesus drink alcohol?' we have to remember that in John Chapter 2, the first miracle that Jesus performed was to turn water into wine at the wedding of Cana. And, in fact, it was such good wine that at the end of this wedding feast, the guest came to the master of the feast and said, 'Usually you save the bad wine for last, but you've saved the best wine for last,' and this was Jesus' first miracle. So Scripture nowhere gives just a flat-out denunciation of alcohol. In fact, on the contrary, there are positive things that are said about wine. In Psalm 104, for example, it says that God has given wine to gladden men's hearts. On the other hand, there are warnings about the abuse of wine, the abuse of alcohol. Scripture over and again warns us against the dangers of drunkenness. You've got that in Proverbs 23, you've got it in Ephesians Chapter 5, 'Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit.'

So there are both positive things that are said and there are warnings about the abuse. So when Christians think about this issue of drinking alcohol today, we've got to take both of those things into account. We've got to acknowledge, on the one hand, wine itself is a gift of God. That's what Psalm 104 says. There's nothing wrong with wine itself, and we could compare it to many other things that are gifts of God. Okay, so sex is a gift of God. Sex is a good thing, there's nothing wrong with sex. As Christians, we are not opposed to sex. Money is a gift of God, work is a gift of God. There's a godly kind of ambition to work and to produce and to be successful. These things are gifts of God. Relationships are gifts of God, food is a gift of God. But any of these things can be abused. We can make an idol out of any of these things. As Timothy Keller likes to say, we can take a good thing and turn it into an ultimate thing, and then it becomes an idol.

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