When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”
“How Jesus ‘knew’ we are not told, whether supernatural knowledge (#2:24) or observation or overhearing people’s comments.” (RWP)
John 2:24 But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men.
Note that Jesus takes the initiative in this sign; He does not wait for the man to come to Him, He goes to the man. Does this have any significance for you personally?
“Do you want to get well?” Why did Jesus ask this question? Of course the man wanted to be made well; that was the whole reason he was at the pool every day for 38 years. Jesus asked it to start the faith process in the man by instilling hope.
Barclay points out that, “The first essential towards receiving the power of Jesus is the intense desire for it. Jesus comes to us and says: ‘Do you really want to be changed?’ If in our inmost hearts we are well content to stay as we are there can be no change for us. The desire for the better things must be surging in our hearts.” (qt’d in Morris 303)
What would have happened if the man had said, “Not really since I would lose my good income as a beggar”?