Speaking of His mission on Earth, Jesus declared: “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil” (Matthew 5:17). In the text, it does not talk only about the moral decalogue (10 commandments) but also about the observance of ritual rites, the ceremonial laws written in “the law of Moses.”

One important point to notice is that the ten commandments written by the finger of God on tables of stone were not originally referred to as “law,” but only as “revelation” or “testimony.” “And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand: the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written” (Exodus 32:15).

The “revelation of God” (the tables with ten commandments) were always kept in the ark of the covenant: “And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee.” “In the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee” (Exodus 25:16, 21). (See also Exodus 40:20; Psalms 78:5; 119:88.)

This “revelation” or “testimony” always carries a special role because it is a significant part of the moral code, a mutual agreement between God and the people—as well as the people themselves—and it does not include any instructions concerning the ceremonial services of the Old Testament, prototypes or symbols.

“The law” is always called the “law of Moses” which included precepts with reference to the ceremonial service in the sanctuary, rules and regulations, and contained only a manmade written copy of the revelation.

The “law of Moses” was next to the ark and never inside: “And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished, that Moses commanded the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying, Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee” (Deuteronomy 31:24–26).

Every detail of the ceremonial service of the Old Testament, each sacrifice, the offices of the priest and the high priest, each feast and ceremony described in the law of Moses was a prototype of Christ—the great High Priest of the New Testament and His service in the heavenly sanctuary (see Hebrews chapters 7–11). Thus, when Christ said that He had come not to destroy “the law,” but to fulfill it, He did not only follow such commandments as “Thou shalt not steal,” “Thou shalt not bear false witness,” and so on, but He did also all the precepts of the ceremonial law as well. Paul clearly explained in Hebrews that it is only through the death of Christ that the ceremonial services lost their purpose and significance, and not before.

Jesus was not only the Messiah (the Anointed One) but also the High Priest, because the Scripture states: “Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus.” “So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee. As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec” (Hebrews 3:1; 5:5, 6).

So Christ, being the High Priest, was subordinate to the priesthood laws, even to His death: “He humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:8, emphasis supplied). He stated: “Think not that I am come to destroy the law. . . . I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil,” (Matthew 5:17, emphasis supplied). “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law” (Galatians 4:4, emphasis supplied).

Now, since we know that Jesus, being the High Priest, was subject to the priesthood laws, let us consider what the law says regarding the use of alcohol by the priests: “And the Lord spake unto Aaron, saying, Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations: and that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean; and that ye may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the Lord hath spoken unto them by the hand of Moses” (Leviticus 10:8–11).

No doubt, Christ (the High Priest) fulfilled this precept. Moreover, one of Isaiah’s prophecies concerning Christ clearly reinforces this point: “The Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know [the original translation from Hebrew says: that He may understand] to refuse the evil, and choose the good” (Isaiah 7:14, 15).

As we see, the law which Christ obeyed, and as the prophecy clearly stated, it was necessary for Him to be sober at all time to distinguish the holy from the unholy. I don’t think we need to explain why it was necessary for Christ to have a clear mind at all time.

Does wine have any influence on clear thinking? Even though everyone knows the answer, I would like to quote Isaiah: “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, they stumble in judgment” (28:7).

Shall we mention one more, very important point? Many believe that during the Passover supper Christ had only a small drink, a sip from the cup—hence He could not get drunk with just one sip. I can somewhat agree that from just one sip of alcoholic wine Jesus would not have gotten drunk or become really confused in His mind. But let us go back to the Bible history to see whether it was just a sip or whether it was more than a sip.

There was a commandment saying that each participant of the Passover feast had to drink four cups of grape juice or “wine” during the Passover supper (also known in Judaism as the Seder). The Mishnah (which is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions and the first major work of rabbinical Judaism) says that even the poor were obligated to drink the four cups. Those four cups of wine were not consumed all at once, but each cup was imbibed at a specific point in the Seder (Passover supper). I will not spend much time now to describe all the details how the Jewish Passover was performed (this information is very easy to find) but will bring only a few statements, revealing how much “wine” had to be consumed by every participant (everyone from 12 years and older) during the Passover supper.

The Halacha (the collective body of Jewish religious laws, including biblical laws and later Talmudic and rabbinical laws) states: “The mitzvah [commandment] of drinking the four cups of wine must be fulfilled at night. Since the cup (of wine) over which Kiddush is recited is one of these four cups.”1

“At the Seder, every Jew should drink four cups of wine corresponding to the four expressions of freedom mentioned in the Torah (Exodus 6:6, 7). Since we are free people this evening, nobody should pour their own wine, but rather each person should pour for another—as if we are royalty who have servants. . . . Everyone should have their own wine cup, which holds a Revi’it (Revi’it equals to about 4 oz/100 ml). . . . It is preferable to drink the entire cup of wine for each of the Four Cups. Otherwise, you should at least drink a majority of the cup.”2

The fact that during their supper in that last evening Jesus and His disciples had more than just one drink is clearly described by the evangelist Luke: “And when the hour was come, [The Master] sat down, and the twelve apostles with him. And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: for I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves: for I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come. And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you” (Luke 22:14–20, emphasis added).

Therefore, if we say that Jesus Christ did drink alcoholic wine, He should have drunk four cups of it, not just one sip from the cup.

Let us compare the records of Luke with the order of the Seder:

Let us imagine for a moment that just before the most solemn moment of Christ’s life on earth, before His departure to Gethsemane, where the cup of suffering was trembling in His hand and the destiny of the entire universe depended on His decision, He would get drunk with fermented wine (a total of four cups—about 12–16 oz / 340–400 ml). How could He then resist the temptations of Satan in Gethsemane? No one in the right state of mind would agree with this idea, that such a thing could take place.

In Gethsemane, Jesus “fell prostrate, overcome by the horror of a great darkness. The humanity of the Son of God trembled in that trying hour. He prayed not now for His disciples that their faith might not fail, but for His own tempted, agonized soul. The awful moment had come—that moment which was to decide the destiny of the world.”3 Surely this was an occasion for the highest level of sobriety—by anyone’s standard!