John 5:6

John 5:6. Jesus seeing him lying there, and perceiving that he hath been now a long time in that case, saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole? The first movement is altogether on the side of Jesus: comp. John 5:21 (‘whom He will'). His knowledge of the case is by direct intuition (comp. John 2:25), not, as we believe, the result of inquiry. In Matthew 8:2 the leper's words to Jesus were, ‘Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean,' and the answer was, ‘I will.' Here the address of Jesus contains His ‘I will,' for His question to the man is ‘Dost thou will? if thou dost I do also.' Jesus has the will to heal him: does he answer this with a corresponding will, or is he like those to whom Jesus would have given life, but who ‘would' not come to Him? (John 5:40). It will be observed that there is no broad separation made between bodily and spiritual healing. The man certainly understood the former, but we cannot limit the meaning of Christ's words by the apprehension of those to whom He speaks, and the subsequent narrative seems to imply more than the restoration of bodily health.