The symbol of water which has featured so prominently in the gospel so far, in the work of the Baptist, in the sign at Cana and in the dialogues with Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman, is now seen as a symbol for healing. The cripple had never ceased to hope that somehow he might get into the water of the pool to which was attributed the power of healing (5:7). A Jewish reader-would see significance in his having been crippled for thirty-eight years because that was the exact period that the Israelites wandered in the desert, according to Deuteronomy 2: 14. There was also significance in the mention of five entrances to the pool (5:2) which a Jewish reader might connect with the five books of the Law. In other words, underneath the superficial details of the scene at the pool, a Jew who had become a Christian-like the author himself-could see that it all symbolized the helplessness of Judaism in freeing its people from evil and sin. In healing the cripple, Jesus fulfilled the Messianic prophecy of Isaiah 35:6.

In healing the man on the Sabbath, Jesus demonstrated his divine authority to use the holy day for a holy purpose, that of restoring the man to active life. In 5: 17, Jesus gives the reason why he healed on the Sabbath. 'My Father is always working and I too must work.' God the Father never ceases to care for and uphold his creation and the Son never ceases to demonstrate his Father's love in the world.

In 5:6, the words of Jesus to the man have a double meaning, just as when he spoke to the government official (4:48). Jesus offered the man not only physical but spiritual healing. The man was healed as he responded to Jesus' command to get up, to do the seemingly impossible (5 :8-9). Jesus' words to him later (5: 14) indicated that the man needed to be liberated from sin, not only healed physically.

As in Mark's gospel, John shows that the Pharisees were in open conflict with Jesus over his use of the Sabbath (5: 16) and his saying in 5: 17 led to their determination to kill him for blasphemy.

In this third sign we see the new order which was being manifested in Jesus, superseding the old order of Judaism, as Jesus fulfils Messianic prophecy and destroys the grip of evil and sin in a man's life, as he does his Father's work in the world.