“Sir, I Have No Man” (John 5)

Scripture reading – John 5 

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* Please note that words and phrases in brackets are the author’s amplification.

John 5

We find Jesus and His disciples returning to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews, traditionally reckoned as the second Passover of His public ministry (John 5:1), as was the custom among devout Jews. As He made His way to the Temple, the Lord passed through the sheep gate—the same gate through which sheep were led into the city and up to the Temple Mount to be sacrificed. (Note that the word “market,” found in John 5:2, appears in italics in the KJV, indicating it was supplied by the translators and is not in the original Greek.) Nearby was a pool called “Bethesda,” meaning “house of mercy” (John 5:2), shaded by five covered porches. As He passed by, Jesus gazed upon “a great multitude of impotent folk [sick, feeble], of blind, halt [lame], withered [shrunken limb]” (John 5:3).

A Crowd of Suffering Souls at the Pool of Bethesda (John 5:1-7)

John tells us they were “waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had” (John 5:3-4).

Amid this great crowd of needy souls was a man who had been afflicted for thirty-eight years (John 5:5), suffering from a chronic, debilitating infirmity (the text does not specify the ailment). Because the Lord knows all men and what lies within their hearts (John 2:24-25), He looked upon this man with compassion and asked, “Wilt thou be made whole [sound]?” (John 5:6).

The man answered the Lord, saying, “Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me” (John 5:7). He had been afflicted for thirty-eight years, and I presume his family, loved ones, and friends had long since given up hope of his recovery. No one waited to help him into the healing waters when they were stirred; those who shared his affliction showed him no mercy, unwilling to set aside their own needs to give preference to a man who had suffered so long.

The Cure of the Impotent Man (John 5:8-9)

Consider with me three divine attributes Jesus displayed on that Sabbath day (John 5:9b). The first was His omniscience, for He “saw” the man and knew, without being told, how long he had been afflicted (John 5:6). His later warning to the man, “Sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee” (John 5:14), likewise shows knowledge of the man’s heart and condition that only God possesses.

The second was His grace. When the Lord asked, “Wilt thou be made whole?” (John 5:6), the man answered only with a despairing complaint: “I have no man” (John 5:7). Though many others at that pool suffered similar ailments, Jesus singled out this man and had compassion on him. He was no more deserving than the rest; mercy, not merit, moved Jesus to heal him.

The third was His omnipotence and divine authority over sickness and disease. When He commanded the man, “Rise, take up thy bed, and walk” (John 5:8), “immediately he was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked” (John 5:9). He had suffered for thirty-eight years, and by the power of Jesus’ spoken word alone, he was made whole.

The Rise of a Controversy (John 5:9-16) 

As the healed man, rejoicing, passed through the Temple grounds, he was accosted by some Jews who said, “It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed” (John 5:10).

He explained that the man who had healed him told him, “Take up thy bed, and walk” (John 5:11). But rather than rejoicing with him, they demanded, “What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk?” (John 5:12). I wonder how often those very critics had passed by the man as he lay at the pool of Bethesda, hoping the waters would be stirred.

Adding to their hypocrisy, rather than rejoicing at the man’s healing, they set their hearts to persecute Jesus upon learning that He was the one who had healed him. Those same men “sought to slay” Jesus because He had done these things “on the sabbath day” (John 5:16).

Closing thoughts –

To be clear, Jesus did not break the Sabbath under God’s law—rather, He did what was lawful: He restored and healed. His only “violation” was of the extra-biblical traditions the Pharisees had added to the Law.

There is much more to the events of that Sabbath (John 5:17-47), but for now I want to conclude with a challenge: consider how tempting it is to overlook the sorrows and hurts of others in our daily routine.

How many hurting people do we pass by each day? Do we take time to show pity and compassion for others’ sorrows? Are we sensitive to the troubled hearts around us? Is there someone in your life who, like the man at Bethesda, might say, “I have no man”—no one who cares enough to help carry them toward healing?

Copyright © 2026 – Travis D. Smith 

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