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John 5 · a question people ask

The Gospel says that "an angel went down at certain times into the pool and stirred up the water" (5:4). Does Jesus use the water to make the man well?

In the text

Here are the words: the sick lay "waiting for the moving of the water; for an angel went down at certain times into the pool and stirred up the water. Whoever stepped in first after the stirring of the water was healed of whatever disease he had" (5:3-4). The sick man speaks of the stirring too: "Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I’m coming, another steps down before me" (5:7). Jesus doesn't send him to the water. He says, "Arise, take up your mat, and walk" (5:8), and "Immediately, the man was made well" (5:9). The Gospel tells nothing more about the angel or the stirring, and these notes don't explain them or add to its words.

From Favor's study of John 5

John 5: My Father is still working

Asked "Do you want to be made well?", the man at the pool doesn't say yes; he says, "Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool" (5:6-7). Jesus doesn't put him in: "Arise, take up your mat, and walk" (5:8). And only after he walks does the Gospel say, "Now that day was a Sabbath" (5:9).

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Last reviewed October 1, 2026. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions