Christian Women Want Wine?

By Janelle Alberts –

A kindly, Christian neighbor of mine told me recently that drinking wine was forbidden by Jesus.

“Forbidden?” I asked.  Had she gotten that quite right?

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“Forbidden,” she said. “Well forbidden except for special occasions. That’s okay.”

But in Jesus’ day, people drank wine for supper. Daily.  No?

I thought this, but I didn’t ask.  I’ve read the Bible, but if you want to challenge someone on their thoughts on Jesus, you’d better have the thing memorized.

I struggle to memorize my Hotmail password.

But she wouldn’t let it go.

She said, “My pastor’s wife says you can drink it occasionally, but always and only with food.”

Well, obviously. I had already read that in the book French Women Don’t Get Fat.

“Wasn’t Jesus’ first miracle turning water into wine?” Had I just said that out loud? Idiot! Can I never, ever keep my mouth shut?

Her smile said: Yes. Yes you are an idiot. Out loud, she said, “Oh yes, but that’s because the water back then was so bad!”

I’d heard this before. I’d heard this since seventh grade Sunday school when Matt DeLuca was brave enough to raise his hand and ask the teachers why we had grape juice in church when Jesus’ gang all drank wine. Their answer was the water business and being tweens, we let it drop.

Now, I didn’t let it drop.

“Look, don’t you think Jesus could’ve filled those jugs at that wedding with whatever He wished?” I asked my neighbor.

“Of course. Of course, darling,” she said. “His Mama asked Him to do something special. It was to reveal His glory! People put their faith in Him!”

“Right,” I said. “But just to be clear, He didn’t turn that water into better water.”

Janelle Alberts spent her early career managing crisis communication needs for Microsoft, UPS and Wells Fargo. Alberts joined the Akron Beacon Journal online religion page in the summer of 2010. Alberts sets out in The Bible Book Club to observe the messaging strategy of one historical icon that is consistently quoted but inconsistently represented – God and His world’s best-selling book, the Bible. You can find Janelle at http://ohio.webfactional.com/faith_folly/.

 

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Christian Women Want Wine?
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