Expositor's Bible Commentary 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)

Jesus selected for his attention the person who seemed most needy. Confinement to a bed for thirty-eight years would leave the sufferer so weak that he would be unable to walk or even stand for any length of time. Jesus’ question must have seemed rather naive to this invalid. Who would not want to be healed from utter helplessness? Yet the question also implies an appeal to the will, which the long years of discouragement may have paralyzed. Jesus thus was challenging the man’s will to be cured.