Many believers wonder whether they will eat and drink in Heaven once glorified, or whether those activities are limited to Earth. Thankfully, Scripture provides insights and evidence suggesting that believers will be equipped to eat and drink in Heaven and will participate in those endeavors to some degree.
The first piece of evidence indicating that glorified believers will eat and drink in Heaven is Jesus’ resurrected body. The Bible says that Jesus’ glorified body retained its earthly, physical form and the ability to eat and drink. It also records Jesus eating food after His resurrection. Luke 24:41-43 says, “While they still could not believe it because of their joy and amazement, He said to them, ‘Have you anything here to eat?’ They gave Him a piece of a broiled fish; and He took it and ate it before them.” John 21:12-15 implies that Jesus ate fish and bread on a different occasion with His disciples: “Jesus said to them, ‘Come and eat breakfast.’ Yet none of the disciples dared ask Him, ‘Who are You?’—knowing that it was the Lord. Jesus then came and took the bread and gave it to them, and likewise the fish. This is now the third time Jesus showed Himself to His disciples after He was raised from the dead. So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?’ He said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.’ He said to him, ‘Feed My lambs.’”
Given Jesus’ ability to eat and drink post-resurrection, the implication is that believers will retain the ability to eat and drink since their glorified bodies will mirror Jesus’ glorified body. Philippians 3:20-21 says, “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.” 1 Corinthians 15:49 says, “Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly.” Lastly, 1 John 3:2 says, “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.”
The second piece of evidence indicating that glorified believers will eat and drink in Heaven is Jesus’ statements in the gospels. Jesus told His disciples that they would eat and drink in His Kingdom and told those following Him that many would recline at the table with Abraham, Issac, and Jacob in His Kingdom. Jesus said in Luke 22:29-30, “You are those who have stood by Me in My trials; and just as My Father has granted Me a kingdom, I grant you that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” He also stated in Matthew 8:11, “I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.”
Additionally, Matthew 26:27-29 records the following during the Passover: “Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.’” Likewise, Luke 22:14-16 says, “When the hour had come, He reclined at the table, and the apostles with Him. And He said to them, ‘I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I shall never again eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.’”
(Also note that Scripture speaks of the marriage supper of the Lamb in Revelation 1:9:7-9, which could be the event Jesus referred to when telling His disciples that He would eat and drink with them in Heaven and that many would recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.)
The third proof that appears to indicate that glorified believers will eat and drink in Heaven is the tree of life. Scripture reveals that God will create a New Heaven and Earth at the end of all things, which will contain the tree of life, among other components. Originally, God planted this tree in the Garden of Eden to sustain Adam and Eve’s physical bodies on Earth for eternity (see Genesis 2:9). However, after Adam and Eve sinned, God removed their access to the tree of life by expelling them from the Garden so they could no longer eat from it (see Genesis 3:22-23).
Given that this tree reemerges in the New Jerusalem, it will apparently serve to sustain the health of believers in the New Heaven and New Earth as they eat of its fruit. Revelation 22:2 says, “In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.” Revelation 2:7 implies that this fruit will be literally consumed: “To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God.”
After considering each of these pieces of evidence individually and collectively, it seems more likely than not that believers will eat and drink with Jesus in God’s Kingdom, even if the purpose for food is fellowship, celebration, and pleasure rather than sustenance. However, there is room for alternate interpretations of passages that speak of eating and drinking in God’s Kingdom if verses are more symbolic than literal. Therefore, keeping an open mind on this non-essential issue is advised.
I hope this information was helpful, intriguing, and comforting, and it encourages you to dig deeper into God’s Word for more insights on this and other biblical topics.
