Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper with bread and wine. One of the issues at the time of the Reformation was over the fact that the Roman Catholic Church of the Middle Ages served only the bread in the form of wafers; they did not serve the wine to the people.

The question is often raised in our day whether we can use things other than bread and wine as the elements in communion. I believe that if we are in a concentration camp and are given only crackers and water, these could be used in a consecrated way as a communion meal. The elements are not most important. Still, given the opportunity to use what Jesus instituted, we should do so. God had good reasons for selecting bread and wine, whether we know his reasons or not.

John Calvin speaks at length in his Institutes of the Christian Religion about the appropriateness of wine in communion. Throughout the Old Testament, the vine and its fruit are symbols of the prosperity of God's people. Israel in the Old Testament was a great wine-producing nation, and wine was one of her greatest export commodities. Thus, the use of wine speaks of how greatly we have prospered in the blessing of life in the kingdom. Because of its richness in texture and taste, wine also communicates the richness of life lived in Christ.

Wine also is associated with joy, and for that reason people drank wine at wedding feasts and other celebrations. Drunkenness was forbidden, but it should be noted that wine was regarded as one of God's great blessings. In fact, Jesus contributed to the wedding feast of Cana by creating a large quantity of high quality wine. Calvin also observes that wine has a slight taste of bitterness. Thus, its sensation reminds us of the death and agony of Christ, uniting us in his pain.

From these reasons and others, we can see God's wisdom in appointing wine in communion.

--R.C. Sproul, Before the Face of God, Book Two.