John 21:5

5 Therefore Jesus saith to them, Children, whether ye have any supping thing? They answered to him, Nay.

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 Simon Peter saith to them, I go to fish. They say to him, And we come with thee. And they went out, and went into a boat. And in that night they took nothing.

4 But when the morrow was come, Jesus stood in the brink; nevertheless the disciples knew not, that it was Jesus.

5 Therefore Jesus saith to them, Children, whether ye have any supping thing? They answered to him, Nay.

6 He said to them, Put ye [Send ye] the net into the right half of the rowing, and ye shall find. And they putted the net; and then they might not draw it for multitude of fishes [Therefore they sent the net, and now they might not draw it, for multitude of fishes].

7 Therefore that disciple, whom Jesus loved, said to Peter, It is the Lord. Simon Peter, when he had heard that it is the Lord, girt him(self) with a coat, for he was naked, and went into the sea [Simon Peter, when he had heard for it was the Lord, girt him with a coat, soothly he was naked, and sent him into the sea].