‘But when day was now breaking Jesus stood on the beach. However the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus therefore says to them, “Friends, have you caught anything to eat?” They answered him, “No”.
In the gloom and haze of the early morning the disciples saw a man on the beach, but did not know who it was. We need not be surprised that Jesus was unrecognised. Quite apart from the early mist they were not expecting to see Jesus, certainly not as wandering along the shoreline, and we know that His resurrection body, while similar enough to be recognised once He revealed Himself, was dissimilar enough from His body prior to death to have made others unaware of Who He was for a time.
Then the man asked whether they had caught anything and they had to admit wryly that they had been unsuccessful. We are reminded of the similar situation when Peter, Andrew, James and John were first called (Luke 5:1-11).
‘Day was now breaking.' We are reminded here of Jesus' words, ‘work the works of him who sent me while it is day, the night comes when no man can work.' In the betrayal by Judas (John 13:30) and the death of Jesus the night had come. Is this a deliberate indication that a new day is beginning for all? A typical Johannine double meaning.
‘Friends' - ‘paidia', literally ‘children' but a tender term used of young adults, just as the captain of a team might refer to his men as ‘lads'.