What Is Fruit of the Vine

Here’s an interesting exercise…

I think we are assuming that the phrase Jesus used when He instituted the Lord’s Supper – fruit of the vine – is referring to a fermented beverage, specifically wine.

Can anyone prove from Scripture that “fruit of the vine” equals wine?

The Greek word for “fruit” is gennema, and means “that which has been born or begotten”. The Greek word for “vine” is ampelos, and means “a vine”. The Greek word for “wine” is oinos, and (from what I can tell) is not used in any of the biblical accounts relating to the Lord’s Supper.

How do we know from Scripture that what is being referred to by the phrase ‘fruit of the vine’ is wine and not some other substance, like grape juice?

The Winers May Have a Point

There are those of us who consider of vital importance the mode of baptism being either immersion or a pouring which demonstrates being completely and spiritually immersed into Christ and overwhelmed by his Spirit. Are we being inconsistent, then, if we also serve grape juice instead of wine at the Lord’s Table while holding to specific modes for baptism?

The main questions I think we need to ask are these:

Is mode important for the Lord’s Table? If so, why do we hold to what we believe is the proper mode for baptism but do not do the same thing with respect to the obvious proper mode for the Lord’s Supper? Can we honestly say that it is the thought that counts with respect to the Lord’s Table (and therefore wine or grape juice is not important), but that regarding Baptism it MUST be done in a certain way?

I know that there are probably some Presbyterian churches that have an issue with this as well, but I think this is predominately something that Baptist churches need to face up to with respect to their inconsistency in how they handle the two sacraments.

So, let me put this to my Baptist brothers and sisters out there. Are we being inconsistent in our practices by requiring a certain mode for baptism while at the same time not observing in the Lord’s Supper what was clearly used by Christ when He instituted the New Covenant in His blood?