Luke 24:42-43 (ESV) -- They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them.

Many people conceive Heaven as a place where we float around as glowing spirits for eternity. We do not know a ton of information about the place we call “Heaven” right now. The place where people in Christ go when they die as we await His return to the earth and resurrection of the dead is not described in great detail in Scripture. We know we’ll be with Christ. That is for sure. But what we do know more detail about is what Heaven after the return of Christ will be like. The dead will be raised, the earth made new, and the kingdom established forever on earth. 

Many fail to recognize this. The Scripture teaches that eternity in Heaven will be spent in a physical existence, with bodies, and in the world made new. We are not going to be floaty spiritual things. Our text today, though not about this primarily, sheds light on it. We read in Luke 24:42-43, “They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them.” 

This is from the story of the road to Emmaus. Jesus encounters these two men on the road. He has risen from the grave in resurrected glory. At this moment, Jesus is in His glorified body. He is in a physical body that has been raised in perfection. It is a picture of our own future resurrected selves. He is the firstborn from the dead (Colossians 1:18).

What does this passage teach us about our own future bodies? Notice that Jesus sat down with these two men and ate a meal with them. He broke bread and ate fish. This tells us that all the physical parts of His body needed for handling, eating, chewing, swallowing, and digesting food were functioning. I’m assuming His taste buds also functioned to give pleasure in the eating, in other words, fully human and physical. The resurrected Jesus is a pointer for us to the day we ourselves are raised from the dead in bodily form. We will retain our physical bodies, yet without sin natures, sickness, or death. We will eat in the kingdom to come.  

The Scriptures tell us we will feast together in the kingdom of God. This isn’t just symbolic language. It is real. Our bodies will eat, drink, and be merry. But they will do so in perfection and without the weight of sin and death around us. What a day that will be! Praise be to Jesus for not only pointing us to this coming Day, but for securing it for us through His sacrificial death and resurrection. He alone gives us hope for this future.

"Luke 24:42-43 (ESV) - "They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them." The resurrected Jesus points us to the day we will be raised from the dead in bodily form and we will feast together in the kingdom of God."

Tweet This

Reflection & Journal: 
- Why is it significant that Jesus eats with the two men after His resurrection?
- What does the fact that our ultimate future is in a physical world teach you about the value and importance of this current world?
- How do most people think about Heaven? What does that view cause them to miss about the glory of what awaits us?

Sign up to receive our daily devotions in your inbox here!