<p>5:3 <i>In these lay a crowd of those who were sick, blind, lame, paralysed, waiting for the moving of the water</i>- The &quot;sick&quot; or &quot;impotent&quot; are those without power. The same word is used of how whilst we were all &quot;without strength, Christ died for the ungodly&quot; (Rom. 5:6). They were waiting, just as Israel ought to have been waiting for Messiah. But the law was itself &quot;impotent&quot; (s.w. &quot;sick&quot;), unable to cure or change the human moral condition (Heb. 7:18 s.w.). The same word for &quot;moving&quot; is used of how the Jewish religion could not &quot;move&quot; the heavy burdens of legalism and human guilt before God (Mt. 23:4).</p>