John 21:5

5 Yeshua therefore said to them, "Children, have you anything to eat?" They answered him, "No."

John 21:5 Meaning and Commentary

John 21:5

Then Jesus saith unto them, children
And still they knew him not, though he used this endearing and familiar appellation, and which they had been wont to hear from him; and he had called them by a little before his departure from them, ( John 13:33 ) and which he uses here as expressive of his tender affection for them, their relation to him, and that he might be known by them:

have ye any meat?
that is, as the Syriac renders it, (oelml Mdm) , "anything to eat"; meaning fish that they had caught; and whether they had got a sufficient quantity to make a meal of for him and them.

They answered him no;
they had got nothing at all; or at least what they had was far from being enough to make a breakfast of; for so a meal early in a morning may be most properly called, though it is afterwards called dining. Christ's children, true believers, are sometimes without spiritual food; there is always indeed enough in Christ, and he has an heart to give it; but either through prevailing iniquity they feed on something else, or do not go to him for food, or go elsewhere; but he will not suffer them to starve; for as he has made provisions for them in the ministry of the word and ordinances; and he himself is the bread of life; if they do not ask him for food, he will ask them whether they have any; will kindly invite them to the provisions he himself makes; will bid them welcome, and bless them to them.

John 21:5 In-Context

3 Shim`on Kefa said to them, "I'm going fishing." They told him, "We are also coming with you." They immediately went forth, and entered into the boat. That night, they caught nothing.

4 But when day was now breaking, Yeshua stood on the beach, yet the talmidim didn't know that it was Yeshua.

5 Yeshua therefore said to them, "Children, have you anything to eat?" They answered him, "No."

6 He said to them, "Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some." They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it in for the multitude of fish.

7 That talmid therefore whom Yeshua loved said to Kefa, "It's the Lord!" So when Shim`on Kefa heard that it was the Lord, he wrapped his coat around him (for he was naked), and threw himself into the sea.