Jesus knew they had caught nothing. He asked so that they would say it themselves. Matthew Henry puts it this way: Christ asked "not because he did not know their wants, but because he would know them from them." The address "Children" was warm. Barnes calls it "a term of affection and friendship," and Gill says Jesus used it to show His tender affection "and that he might be known by them." The question opened the way for the command and the miracle that followed.

They answered with one word: "No" (John 21:5). Jesus then told them, "Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find." They obeyed, "and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes" (John 21:6). The disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord," and Peter cast himself into the sea (John 21:7). On land they found "a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread" (John 21:9).

The KJV word "meat" translates prosphagion, which Thayer's lexicon defines as anything eaten with bread, and which appears only here in the New Testament. Barnes, citing the scholar Schleusner, says the Greeks used it "especially to denote fish." That is why the ESV reads, "do you have any fish?"

"Children" translates paidia, a word for young ones. Gill notes that Jesus had used the same kind of tender address shortly before His death (John 13:33). The sea of Tiberias is another name for the sea of Galilee (John 6:1).

The risen Lord came to tired, empty-handed fishermen and asked about their breakfast. Matthew Henry draws the lesson that "Christ takes cognizance of the temporal wants of his people." He let them admit their empty nets before He filled them, and then He fed them with fish and bread already laid on a fire of coals (John 21:9, 13).

Their failure became the setting for recognizing Him. Barnes says the empty night was so ordered "that the miracle which was performed might appear more remarkable." The great catch led the beloved disciple to say, "It is the Lord" (John 21:7). This was the third time Jesus showed Himself to His disciples after He was risen (John 21:14).