John 21:5-6

“ Jesus says 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 shall find. They cast it therefore;and they were not able to draw it because of the multitude of the fishes. ”

The term παιδία, young people, boys, is not foreign to the language of John (1 John 2:13; 1Jn 2:18). If the more tender term τεκνία, little children, is not used, as in John 13:33, it is because Jesus could not have expressed Himself thus without making Himself known. He uses the expression of a master speaking to his workmen. The negative sense of the interrogative form μή τι may, as in John 6:67, be rendered thus: You have nothing then...? The sequel will explain this question. Jesus does not look merely at a catching of fish, as in Luke 5, but at a meal. It is not necessary, therefore, to suppose, with Chrysostom, Tholuck and others, that Jesus wished to present Himself to them as a trader who was desirous of purchasing fish.

The word προσφάγιον is not found again in John; it denotes literally what is added to bread at a meal; in this case, the fish.

The apostles suppose that this stranger understands fishing, and that he has noticed some indication fitted to give occasion for his advice. It has been thought that the opposition between the left side of the boat, where they had cast the net during the night to no purpose, and the right side, where they were about to make their magnificent draught, typified the contrast between the failure of the work of evangelization in Israel and its infinitely rich fruits in the Gentile world. But, besides the fact that this seems contrary to what is related in Acts 2-5 and Acts 21:20 (μυριάδες), it is necessary to hold to the general idea of the immense success which will be gained in the world by the preaching of the Gospel, at every time when the apostles shall suffer themselves to be directed by the Lord, and shall work with Him. This meaning could not escape them, provided they remembered the terms of the original call: “ I will make you fishers of living men. ” They could understand it, however, only after having recognized Jesus.