When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had been sick for a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to be made well?"
Wouldest thou be made whole ...?  This was an offer of the Lord to heal the man, but the form of the question implied that the desire to be made whole was prerequisite to his healing.  There was a recognition here of the fact, known to every physician, that certain persons, long invalid, finding it more satisfactory to rely totally upon the services of others than to assume any burden themselves, do not really desire to get well.  What is true physically is likewise true spiritually, that the will to be made whole sometimes subsides or disappears from the heart of the sinner. Regarding this, Howard noted that: