GreenEyedLady said:
We all know it was wine. But what we don't know is if it was fermented.
Those who take this verse and use it to justifty drinking fermented wine is saying more than what this verse is really stating.
Some people say, Well, its GOT to be ok to drink wine because Christ made wine, as if Christ was some bartender passing out wine glasses screaming DRINK AND BE MERRY!!!!!!!!!!
This bothers me.
You know, I've noticed a tendency for folks to look at what Jesus did or didn't do as a justification of whether or not something is sin. He didn't condemn the soldier who came to him for healing, therefore it must be okay to be a soldier. The Bible doesn't say the wine was fermented, therefore drinking is wrong. Jesus turned over the care of his mother (as firstborn, it was his responsibility to see to the needs of his mother for the rest of her life), therefore Mary is to be considered the mother of all believers.
But it's just false to do that. You can't determine whether or not the wine was alcoholic at Canna, but later in the gospels it says that people were accusing Jesus of being a drunkard because he drank wine and hung around with drunkards. Jesus didn't condemn the soldier, but many, many times he taught us how to deal with our enemies, and he never gave permission to kill them.
You have to look at the whole subject throughout the whole gospel, the whole Bible if necessary, and see all the circumstances and all the teachings and learn from those.
After looking at everything together, I am convinced that Jesus sometimes enjoyed wine that was alcoholic. Maybe not all the time, but at least once in a while, which is why his critics called him a winebiber, which means someone who drinks alcoholic wine. It was meant to ridicule him as a drunk and make people stop loving him and start laughing at him or scorning him.
The Bible even says that a little wine is good for you. Jesus never condemned it or taught against it. The OT warns not to do it to excess but cites times when it is appropriate. Jesus did it himself, so I don't think a little sip of wine now and then is really sin.