What does John 21:5 mean?
At sunrise, and after an unsuccessful night of fishing (John 21:1–3), the disciples are not likely to recognize anyone standing far away on the shores of Galilee (John 21:4). The figure they see is Jesus, who calls out to ask if they've caught anything. The Greek term paidia literally refers to "children," but can also be a figure of speech. One can imagine a modern person calling out in English, "you kids didn't catch anything, did you?"A few years before, Jesus responded to a fruitless night of fishing by commanding Peter to cast his nets off the other side of the boat (Luke 5:3–5). The result was a clear miracle (Luke 5:6–7), resulting in Peter's declaration of faith (Luke 5:8). In this encounter, Jesus will give a similar instruction (John 21:6), with similar results (John 21:7).