Ok, what about grape juice (not OINOS)

Eric S. Weiss eweiss at gte.net
Tue Jun 13 00:20:24 EDT 2000


Being a good Jew (though some would say my belief in Jesus no longer allows 
me to use that appellation), I have long maintained (perhaps tongue in 
cheek) that the reason Peter and James and John fell asleep in the Garden 
of Gethsemane was because of the ALCOHOLIC wine they drank during the "last 
supper." It was a tradition that one was supposed to drink all the cups at 
the Passover seder, to get "giddy," in fact, for joy at the celebration of 
the Exodus. Now, this rabbinical injunction may have post-dated Jesus's 
time, and I believe J. Jeremias makes the case in THE EUCHARISTIC WORDS OF 
JESUS that Jesus abstained from both food and drink during the "last 
supper," so "perhaps" Jesus didn't let alcohol touch His lips that night 
(but if He NEVER drank, why would He be accused of being a "wine-drinker" - 
Luke 7:34?), but I do not doubt that my guess as to why the disciples slept 
has some merit.



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