What is a symbolic meaning of wine?

Answer 1

Wine is symbolic of blood and the blood is symbolic of life "For the life of the flesh is in the blood" (Gen 9:4, Lev 17:4). In the New Testament the apostles translate this spiritually in accordance with Isaiah 53:12, "because he poured out his life in death". So "blood" signfies "life" and to partake of the symbolic wine means we are participating in Christs life which "he poured out unto death". Jesus said: "This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate (physical bread), and died (physically), he who eats this(spiritual) bread shall live (spiritually) forever." And the words of Jesus are called that bread of heaven.

Jesus is "the Word of God" (John 1:1,14). So to eat Jesus means to consume, digest and internalise The Bible/Word of God and to drink wine means to participate in the example of his life, "unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you cannot have eternal life within you." (Jn. 6:53).

Wine signifies blood, and blood signifies life "the life is in the blood" (Lev 17:14) and Jesus "poured out His life unto death", which means He surrendered His natural human spirit/life, to do the will of the Father (to be led by His Spirit) which was "in Him in all fullness", as a cup full of wine. So likewise, when we partake of His cup, it symbolically means we are partaking of His life (walking as He walked), living as He lived (to be led by the Spirit of Christ) "if any man will follow Me he must walk as I walked", "if any man will follow Me he must deny himself". The same will be granted with a crown of immortality, which is what these words symbolically mean "unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you cannot have eternal life within you." (Jn. 6:53).

In the Christian ritual the bread represents spiritual food, "I am the bread from heaven" (John 6:51), or the body of Christ. Jesus said and He is "the Word of God" (John 1:1,14). So to eat Jesus means we are to eat spiritual bread which we are told are his (words). Eating words was a common Biblical idea (Jeremiah 15:16; Ezekiel 3:1). So to consume bread represents eating and internalising the Words of God (studying the Bible). "the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." (John 6:63). So the bread represents spiritual food (His Words) and the wine represents the example of His life. To partake of the cup; "they are spirit[bread], and they are life [wine]" and "The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life."

The idea of a ritual is to transfer the meaning to what the symbols are spiritually telling us to do. So instead of eating literal bread and drinking literal wine are supposed to...

1. Eat the (words) of Jesus who is "the Word of God" Jn1.1 (study, internalize and digest the Bible)

2. Drink the wine or participate in the example of His life.

In the Bible natural things are used to represent spiritual things. So just as we need natural bread to live naturally, so we need spiritual bread to sustain us spiritually (the words/teachings of Jesus).

Jesus commanded his followers to remember Him by eating bread (His body) and drinking wine (His blood) until He returned. How can we remember Jesus by eating literal bread? We remember Jesus when we eat spiritual bread (His words) and when we share his bread/words with each other and participate in His cup/life.

The symbolic meaning of turning water into wine

Jesus had to fill the jars with water first before He changed the water into wine. As He teaches in John 2 "man is first born of water and then spirit" signified by the wine to become "vessels acceptable to God"; "full of the Spirit" of His life and truth (represented by the wine). This is why John 2 says the jars were "keimenai" = lying down. meaning a dead man (a man being asleep - spiritually) - being raised from the dead to be taught by God.

The symbolic meaning of drinking wine

To eat the body of Jesus (the bread that came down from heaven) is to eat the Word of God (spritual food not natural food); "the judgements of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honey comb"; "and I took the little book out of the Angels hand, AND ATE IT UP: and it was in my mouth sweet as honey, and as soon as I had eaten it." (Psalm 19; Rev. 10:10). Learning great truths is like eating. One must digest that which is eaten. Then that which gives life will become a part of your body. As you get new understandings, the new will replace the old, "no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit." (John 3:3-5) the vessels full of water will be changed to vessels full of wine (symbolic of the life or spirit of Jesus); as were the vessels of water in Kana.

The symbolic meaning of wine in the negative sense:

To become drunk on wine symbolically means to become prideful.

"WOE UNTO THEM who are WISE IN THEIR OWN EYES, and prudent in their own sight!…MIGHTY TO DRINK WINE, and men of strength to mingle strong drink" (Is 5:22). To be drunk with wine signifies to be proud and arrogant, "because he TRANSGRESSETH BY WINE, HE IS A PROUD MAN, who enlargeth HIS DESIRE AS HELL, AND IS AS DEATH AND CANNOT BE SATISFIED" (Hab 2:3).

"WOE UNTO THEM who are WISE IN THEIR OWN EYES, and prudent in their own sight!…MIGHTY TO DRINK WINE, and men of strength to mingle strong drink" (Is 5:22), this is the effect of Rome (in those words the context that applies in these latter days is revealed) "WOE UNTO THEM WHO ARE WISE IN THEIR OWN EYES".

Likewise everywhere in the Word, wine also signifies the pride of self derived intelligence and the perception of natural man destroyed in all the treats of the spiritual (Is. 29:9). As also in these words, "Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading flower, which are on the head of the fat valleys of them that are OVERCOME WITH WINE…. they also have ERRED THROUGH WINE, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are SWALLOWED UP OF WINE, they are out of the way through strong drink; THEY ERR IN VISION [PERCEPTION], they stumble in judgment….whom shall he teach knowledge? And WHOM SHALL HE TEACH KNOWLEDGE? AND WHOM SHALL ME MAKE TO UNDERSTAND DOCTRINE? THEM THAT ARE WEANED FROM THE MILK, AND DRAWN FROM THE BREAST?…..Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: THEY ARE DRUNKEN", (Is. 28:1, 7, 9). It is said here, who shall I teach knowledge, them that are just weaned from the breast? As these are those without assumption, without presuppositions brought from the world (from Egypt, the science and wisdom of natural man) to the Word that then affects what they 'see' in the Word and what they believe in the Word. Natural man is too in the world, and trusts in the information he receives at the level of his senses, therefore he brings presuppositions to the Word based upon what he already believes (due his trust in Egypt and information derived at the level of his senses, and perceived increase in latter day wisdom), which God then turns to insanity in all that treats of the Spiritual, as this is what the Lord has "purposed upon Egypt" when brought by pressuppossition from the world and applied to the Word. Therefore Isaiah goes on to say, "For the LORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered, And the vision [PERCEPTION] of all is become unto you as the words of a BOOK THAT IS SEALED"; "because he transgresseth with WINE he is a PROUD man" (Hab. 2:5).

THE NATIONS DRINK THE WINE OF THE WRATH of HER FORNICATIONS" (Rev. 14:8). Rome is called Babylon in Revelation 17 because of its heircachel Babylonish priest hood, and because of its dominion over holy things. The nations are drunk of her wine and mad because they are in the same image (a carnal or natural man) as the antitype or beast. A type that cannot understand, "but the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, NEITHER CAN HE UNDERSTAND THEM for he is spiritually discerned" (1 Corin 2:14). And as natural man is now the image of the beast (corporate),being man imbued as to that nature, therefore the same is said of those in the Church who are the same (Beasts) ""All ye BEASTS of the field…are greedy dogs which can never have enough, AND THEY ARE SHEPHARDS THAT CANNOT UNDERSTAND".

Which is signified by the "wages" or effect of Babylons cup - the spirit of Egypt (the spirit of these last days). Thus it is said, "they have caused EGYPT to err in every work thereof, AS A DRUNKEN MAN staggereth in his vomit" (Is. 19:14)

"therefore all the NATIONS ARE MAD".

Wine and Bread in Christian symbolism

Jesus said: "This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate (physical bread), and died(physically), he who eats this (spiritual) bread shall live (spiritually) forever." The words of Jesus are called the bread of heaven.

"I am the living bread that came down from heaven." John 6:51

"Whoever eats this bread will live forever" John 6:52

"The words I have spoken to you they are Spirit and they are life."John 6:63

The Bible often uses the idea of eating Gods words, "and I took the little book out of the Angels hand, AND ATE IT UP: and it was in my mouth sweet as honey, and as soon as I had eaten it." (Jeremiah 15:16; Ezekiel 3:1; Psalm 19; Rev. 10:10). Learning great truths is like eating. One must digest that which is eaten.

To eat Jesus means we are to eat spiritual bread which we are told are his (words/Gospels).

So it is the (words) of Jesus that give life not literal bread, but symbolic bread (words).

Jesus said: "This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate (physical bread), and died(physically), he who eats this (spiritual) bread shall live (spiritually) forever." And the words of Jesus are called that bread of heaven, it is the symbollic meaning of the Lords prayer "give us this day our daily bread". Not natural bread, but spiritual bread (the words of Jesus), the Words of the Gospel; "my words are Spirit and they are life". To consume the Word of God to internalise the spiritual sense of the Word.

"unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you cannot have eternal life within you." (Jn. 6:53)

Interestingly in John 6:66 the reason why the followers of Jesus walked away after hearing this is because they could not understand it was symbolic, not literal "From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him" (Jn 6:66). This is the reason most people walk away from the Bible today.

In ancient times the style of writing was to try and cause offense in the literal sense in order to (force) the reader to interpret the meaning symbolically (this is the style of a riddle) and the Bible is a book of symbolic riddles, we call this an intentional paradox, "Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, "Does this offend you?" John 6:61 (it was intended to in the literal sense to force its abandonment for the metaphoric in which the meaning is completely transfered).

The Bible often parodies paganism in the literal sense to subvert it in the metaphorical. The most obvious example is blood or animal sacrifice which God transfered metaphorically (i.e represents sacrificing our own animal nature within). All rituals have their meaning metaphorically or allegorically and are intended to be internalised (applied spiritually to us). One of the best ways to change someones world view is to accomodate their existing beliefs. The style of the Bible is to accomodate pagan ideas only to subvert them to what God wants to say (metaphorically). Therefore interpretting rituals literally not spiritually is paganism and a gross misunderstanding of the Bible style. Same applies with the Creation account which is a parody of the Babylonian myth in the literal sense only to change its theology and decode a prophecy of mans spiritual creation in the metaphoric.

Answer 2

yes it is because when the Italians drank the wine they drank it on special occasions and when they had a feast