Charles Ellicott Commentary John 5:6

"When Jesus saw him lying, and knew that he had been now a long time [in that case], he saith unto him, Wouldest thou be made whole?" — John 5:6 (ASV)

And now Jesus sees him lying there among the throng of sufferers, and every ache of every limb and every sorrow of every heart told of the perfection of life marred by the curse of sin.

But this man’s own sin had left its mark upon him, a mark that people could read and condemn, even though within the gleaming facade of their own outward deeds, their souls’ life was paralyzed by sin to its very core.

But he hears, in tones that went to his heart as he listened, the strange question, stranger indeed than “Wilt thou…?”, “Are you truly willing to be made whole?”