WHAT DOES "FRUIT OF THE NEW VINE" MEAN?

WHAT DOES "FRUIT OF THE NEW VINE" MEAN?

 

 (Matthew 26:29)

 Introduction

 A. Some brothers believe they have found in this passage the commandment to squeeze the grapes to participate in the Lord's Supper. But what does it mean to take a fruit from the "new" vine (καινός = kainos)

B. We can pose several questions in this passage. But we are going to analyze this text, almost word for word, to try to understand what the writing refers to when it speaks of a "fruit of the new vine". 

 1. The word "up" 

 A. This word is important to understand what a new vine fruit means. It is even a "preposition that is used to express the term limit in relation to time, space or quantity" (panhispánico Dictionary of doubts, Royal Spanish Academy). Joseph did not know Mary until she gave birth (Matthew 1:25). This means that Joseph did know (sexually) Mary. But it was not until after she gave birth. The agents who arranged the wedding could not eat until they came to an arrangement with the parents of the bride (Genesis 24:33). They ate together, when they reached an agreement on the dowry the husband had to pay. 

B. Regarding Matthew 26:29, we must understand that Jesus said that he would not take the fruit of the vine until he drank it again. Remember that he is teaching how he will remember his death and resurrection. Jesus had to die, be resurrected and ascend to heaven. Then, the kingdom of God would be established and now he would drink the fruit of the vine. The first time the apostles broke bread (Acts 2:42) he also broke it. Christ dines with us (Revelation 3:20) in a spiritual sense. Jesus takes the fruit of the vine with the Christians because the church is his body. If the church drinks grape juice, it is Jesus who is drinking grape juice.[The fruit of the vine was going to be old (without meaning) until the church was established ...] 

2. The expression "that day" 

A. According to Brother Wayne Partain "that day" refers to the time or period of the reign of Christ, beginning on the day of Pentecost and extending to the end of the world" (Notes on the Gospel according to Matthew, Wayne Partain). That day includes many days: all his reign over the church.

 B. This means that, as long as there is a church in this world, Jesus is taking the fruit from the new vine. The fruit of the vine is new because we are in "that day". 

3. "The kingdom of my Father" 

A. We know that the kingdom of God is the church because Christ placed the saved in the church (Acts 2:47) and the saved are in the kingdom (Colossians 1:13). The saved do not belong to the church and the kingdom, as if they were different things. But the kingdom is the church. There Christ rules and his law is kept. 

B. Now, Jesus said that he would drink fruit of the new vine in the kingdom of God. That is, whenever the kingdom of God (church) takes the fruit of the vine it is taking a new fruit. If someone takes fruit from the vine outside the church, in any other place, he is taking a fruit from the old vine (meaningless, common).

3. The word "new" 

A. The Greek word (kainos), translated into Spanish as new in this passage, has three uses according to the lexicon (Greek-Spanish Lexicon of the New Testament, Alfred E. Tuggy): 

 New in relation to the use. Unworn. A new wineskin means a container that has never been used (Matthew 9:17). It does not mean that the wineskin should be the skin of a recently killed animal. Such a container would not serve to contain a liquid because a skin that has not been tanned would give an unpleasant taste to the contents. A wineskin was new if it had never been used, maybe it was 30 days old, but the important thing was that nobody had used it. A re-used wineskin would burst when put into a freshly squeezed wine because it would no longer have the elasticity necessary to withstand the fermentation process of freshly squeezed wine.  

The heavens and earth are going to be new because nobody has used them yet (2 Peter 3:13). Almost two thousand years ago Jesus went to prepare the dwelling place of the saints (John 14: 2). But the heavens and the earth where the saints will live are going to be new because, although they have thousands of years of existence, no one will have inhabited them. The faithful will premiere a heavenly mansion. The tomb of Jesus was new because he had no body (Matthew 27:60, John 19:41). When a new sepulcher is described, it does not mean that it was newly carved in the rock, but that no one had used it. No bodies had yet been placed in that tomb. 

B. New in reference to a person's knowledge. Unknown, strange. The languages ​​were new for the apostles (Mark 16:17) but very old for the natives (Acts 2: 8-11). The apostles did not create new languages ​​or languages. They did not speak newly invented languages. The languages ​​were new to them because they had never spoken them before.

 C. New in reference to its nature. In contrast to the old. A new way to be used. Something new. The covenant is new because before there was nothing like it (2 Corinthians 3:6). The previous covenant was a covenant that excluded Gentiles, it was a covenant of death, it was a pact of letters. But the new covenant includes the whole world, it is life and it is spiritual. The man, that the Christian must dress, is new because now he is guided by justice and the sanctity of the word (Ephesians 4:24). By coming to Christ we are new creatures (2 Corinthians 5:17) because we leave the sinful nature. We are not physically newborn (as Nicodemus came to think, John 3:4). But we are spiritually new because before we were guided by the flesh but now we are guided by the spirit.

D. Applied to the passage under consideration (Matthew 26:29), what meaning is more congruent? It is obvious that Jesus would drink a wine that nobody had used before. In this sense, it does not matter how many days of conservation the juice has. The important thing is that nobody has used it. But, with the establishment of the church Jesus would drink the wine in a way that nobody knew. I would drink a different wine, new, new. The wine would be new because of its meaning, its symbolism, its nature. 

[Now let's see some conclusions about the "fruit of the new vine". These conclusions are very important because it is the result of this brief analysis. We are considering something beyond squeezing the grape or buying a juice already prepared ...]
Conclusion

 A. The fruit or juice of the vine is new because Jesus died and rose again. If he had not died and been resurrected, the bread would have no meaning, we would not remember any crucified body. If he had not shed his blood, the grape juice would have no representation, would not remind us of the price of our sin.

B. The fruit or juice of the vine is new because the kingdom of God has already been established. If there were no kingdom or church, eating bread and drinking juice would have no value. It would be like any food. But in the church, bread and grape juice have a special, different, new meaning.

C. The fruit or game of the vine is new because of what it symbolizes. Nobody and nothing has to see when the bread or juice was prepared. Nothing has to do with the physical presentation of these elements. But they have value for what they mean within the church. The memorial they represent. We are drinking fruit from the new vine every time we remember the death and resurrection of Christ. Someone can drink freshly squeezed grape juice and continue to drink old grape juice. Because he does not do it according to the Scripture.

D. The brothers who send freshly squeezed grape juice turn the Lord's Supper into a ritual. For them, the important thing is the physical part. They put the emphasis of the memorial on the time, quality, quantity and physical properties of the elements. I wonder what would happen if all the churches squeezed the grapes, who would order to squeeze "organic" grapes. At this point in technology, the grapes we consume are more artificial than natural. These brothers are forgetting the spiritual part. They feel more attached to writing for meeting certain physical qualities of the juice, rather than putting the emphasis on what it symbolizes.

E. Let's forget the matter of squeezing or buying grape juice because this does not make it new. Think instead of the spiritual part of the act. In the meaning of this element. In our relationship with God. In the debt we have with Christ for having shed his blood in remission of our sins. Just be sure to take fruit from the vine: no grape flavoring or other fruit. By meeting the grape juice in the church as a memorial of Christ, we are drinking new juice. The church can squeeze the grapes if it wants, but if it does not discern the commandment of Christ (remember), it may still be drinking an old juice.

F. In conclusion, fruit of the new vine does not mean freshly squeezed.