Because of the man’s inability to move quickly and the lack of a servant to “help” (literally “throw in quickly”) him into the pool to receive what he believes to be the healing powers of the pool, he has remained in this unhealed state, not because of a lack of desire on his part.

Calvin notes that “This sick man does what we nearly all do.  He limits God’s help to his own ideas and does not dare promise himself more than he conceives in his mind.”  (qt’d in Morris 303)  He was suffering from one of the same misconceptions as the nobleman in the last chapter.

Note that the man does not see Jesus as a potential healer.  In fact, we are told later that he didn’t even know who Jesus was.