What does John 5:7 mean?

Jesus has approached this crippled man, among "a multitude" of invalids laying by the Pool of Bethesda (John 5:3). Perhaps Jesus chose him because of the length of time he'd been suffering. A man crippled for nearly forty years would have made quite a dramatic example of healing. There would have been no doubt that the cure was supernatural. And there is a better chance that the man was well-known in the area, and therefore even more a magnet for attention.

Just now (John 5:6), Jesus asked a question: "Do you want to be healed?" This may have been a simple request, or it might have been a challenge: "Do you want to be healed?" with an emphasis on "wanting?" One reason the second option seems likely is the answer given by the man here.

Rather than saying, "Yes, I want to be healed," the man offers a complaint: there is nobody to help him into the water. The disputed text of John 5:4 indicated an angel agitated the water, healing only the first person who entered the pool. The man might have been trying to get into the pool for healing, or he might have been content to simply sit and take in the charity of others.