Yes—the Bible shows spiritual beings, including the Lord, angels, and the resurrected Jesus, actually eating physical food.
In Genesis 18, the three visitors—the Lord and two angels—ate the meal Abraham prepared, and the text says 'they did eat.' In Luke 24, the resurrected Jesus took a piece of broiled fish and a honeycomb and ate before His disciples. These events show that a spiritual being can genuinely partake of physical food.
Genesis 18:8 — This verse records that Abraham's three visitors—divine beings—actually ate the butter, milk, and calf he set before them.
Luke 24:42-43 — This verse records the resurrected Jesus eating broiled fish and honeycomb in the presence of His disciples.
Luke 24:39 — Jesus contrasts His bodily resurrection with a spirit: 'a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.'
Abraham was sitting in the tent door at Mamre when 'he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him' (Genesis 18:2). He invited them to rest, wash, and take some bread, and they did not refuse (Genesis 18:3-5). After Sarah made cakes and Abraham prepared a tender calf, he set butter, milk, and the calf before them. The record is plain: 'and they did eat' (Genesis 18:8). During the forty days after His resurrection, Jesus appeared to the disciples in Jerusalem. He showed them His hands and His feet, and while they still disbelieved for joy and wondered, He asked whether they had anything to eat. 'And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. And he took it, and did eat before them' (Luke 24:42-43). The Bible does not pause to explain how this was possible; it simply records that they ate.
Les Feldick points out that Abraham's actions were simply the hospitality of that culture. Abraham saw three men and treated them as wayfaring travelers who needed water, rest, and food before continuing in the harsh desert (Clip 0). Yet these visitors were not everyday travelers—they were divine visitors. In Les's teaching, the strongest New Testament parallel is the resurrected Jesus. Les repeatedly takes his class to Luke 24, where Jesus showed His hands and His feet, asked, 'Have you any food?' and then ate the broiled fish and honeycomb the disciples gave Him (Clips 1-5). From that scene Les draws a clear conclusion: 'Oh, for all eternity we're going to have a body that can still enjoy food.' He comforts those who love to eat, saying they will enjoy food without health problems or cholesterol. He also explains that the resurrected body is flesh and bone rather than flesh and blood, and that the Spirit is the life-giving aspect of that new body. In the age to come, we will not be forced to eat three meals a day, but the Lord will give us the pleasure of eating, just as He did with the disciples at the Sea of Galilee (Clips 1, 2, 6, 7).
Yes. Genesis 18:8 says Abraham set the meal before the visitors, 'and they did eat.' Les explains that Abraham operated on the normal hospitality rules of the ancient Middle East: there were no restaurants or motels, so a native with resources would bring wayfaring strangers in, feed them, replenish their water, and send them on their way. That is all Abraham intended to do at first (Clip 0). Yet the visitors were not ordinary men; the account is an appearance of the Lord with angelic companions, and their eating was genuine.
In Luke 24, the disciples could not believe what they were seeing. Jesus showed His hands and His feet, and while they still believed not for joy and wondered, He asked them for food. They gave Him a piece of broiled fish and a honeycomb, and He took it and ate it before them. Les points out that the King James word 'meat' in this context simply means food, and that Jesus did not say, 'I don't need this'—He actually ate. This was a visible demonstration that He was a resurrected Person with all the physical attributes of a human body, including the ability to eat (Clips 2, 3, 4, 5).
Les teaches that Jesus' eating after the resurrection answers this question. 'For all eternity we're going to have a body that can still enjoy food.' He says we will not have to worry about health problems or cholesterol in that body. We will not need to eat three meals a day—that belongs to our present temporal existence—but the Lord has shown by eating with His disciples that He intends food to be one of the good things we enjoy. The resurrected body is described by Les as flesh and bone, not flesh and blood, with the Spirit giving life to it (Clips 1, 2, 6, 7).
Abraham's Hospitality to the Three Visitors
Les explains why Abraham offered food and rest: ancient Middle Eastern hospitality demanded that wayfarers be fed and watered. His guests were divine visitors, and they did eat.
Resurrected Body Can Enjoy Food
Les takes Luke 24 as proof that our eternal body will be able to enjoy food, and he uses Jesus eating broiled fish and honeycomb to make the point.
Glorified Body Ate Before the Disciples
Les highlights the detail that Jesus asked if they had food, was given broiled fish and honeycomb, and then ate with His glorified body in front of them.
The Disciples' Unbelief and Jesus' Eating
Les emphasizes the little word 'not' in 'while they yet believed not,' and notes Jesus did not refuse the food—He ate it.
A Visible, Physical Resurrection
Les says Jesus ate in full view of the disciples to prove He was a visible resurrected Person with physical attributes, including the ability to eat.
Not a Fog or Apparition
Les notes that the resurrection appearance was not ghostlike or 'Star Wars' style; Jesus showed His hands and feet and was physically present.
No More Daily Hunger in the New Body
Les contrasts our present need for daily food with the resurrected body, saying we won't have to eat three meals a day but will still have the pleasure of eating.
Flesh and Bone Eternal Body
Les describes the resurrected body as human-appearing, flesh and bone rather than flesh and blood, and energized by the Spirit so it can eat with the disciples.
Genesis 18:8: And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.
This is the biblical record that the three visitors who appeared to Abraham genuinely partook of the physical meal he served.
Luke 24:42-43: And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. And he took it, and did eat before them.
This shows the resurrected Jesus physically eating food in the presence of His disciples.
Luke 24:39: Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.
Jesus contrasts His bodily resurrection with a spirit, which does not have flesh and bones.
Yes. Genesis 18:8 says Abraham set butter, milk, and the calf before them, and they did eat. Les explains that Abraham was simply practicing ancient Middle Eastern hospitality toward travelers, but the visitors themselves were the Lord and two angels.
It proved His resurrection body was real and physical. Les says He ate broiled fish and honeycomb in front of the disciples to show He could do all the physical things a body can do, and to give a preview of our eternal bodies that can enjoy food.
Les teaches that we will not have to eat three meals a day, but food will still be something to enjoy. When he saw Jesus eat with the disciples, he concluded that the Lord will give us the pleasure of eating without the health problems of this present life.
Les describes it as a human-appearing body, flesh and bone rather than flesh and blood, with the Spirit as its life-giving aspect. It could eat, be touched, and appear and disappear, but it was an eternal resurrected body.
Watch the Teaching: Is Anything Too Hard for the Lord? Genesis 18 & God in Human Form