I still believe!

John places two scenes alongside one another: a man waiting for healing at Bethesda, and disciples deciding whether to keep walking with Jesus. When many turn back, Peter recognizes that Christ has the words of eternal life. The question running through both scenes is whether faith will remain when relief has not come and walking away seems easier.

The man at Bethesda has suffered with an infirmity for thirty-eight years. He cannot reach the troubled water before somebody else steps in. His answer to Jesus names a real disappointment: nobody is there to help him. Yet his continued presence at the pool carries another testimony. He has not packed up and gone home. Disappointment has not completely swallowed his hope.

Bethesda, the house of mercy, becomes a picture of God’s intention to meet human need. The language of covering, covenant, protection, and finished work points toward Christ, whose blood establishes the covenant and whose presence brings help. Jesus sees one man among a great multitude. The long wait has not made that man invisible to God.

Waiting also becomes a place where God works patience into believers. Suffering is not pleasant, and faith does not require pretending otherwise. The pain of childbirth illustrates how a hard season can give way to joy. Paul’s words place present suffering beside the glory still to be revealed, while Job’s restoration gives another picture of life beyond affliction. Hope reaches beyond this life as well as within it.

Continued belief therefore means more than expecting immediate relief. It means holding fast when others seem to receive their blessing first, when help is missing, and when the answer takes longer than expected. Church attendance alone cannot guard against unbelief. Repentance becomes necessary wherever disappointment has hardened into the conviction that God will never act. Christ’s return presses the question further: will believers still be believing when he comes?

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Disappointment Does Not Have Final Say. The man’s complaint that nobody could put him into the pool names the hurt of being repeatedly passed over. His continued presence also bears witness that disappointment has not driven him away altogether. Faith can remain real even when its words carry exhaustion and its circumstances have not changed. [1:17:58]
• 2. God Sees Beyond The Crowd. Jesus finds one suffering man among a great multitude at Bethesda. Other people’s healing has not made this man’s need invisible, even though the waiting has made it feel that way. Another person’s breakthrough is not proof that God has overlooked the believer still waiting. [1:20:08]
• 3. Waiting Is Not Wasted Time. God works patience into believers through trials rather than simply removing every hard thing at once. That does not make suffering painless or require a cheerful description of something that hurts. It means that the season without an answer can still be a season in which God is doing something within a person. [1:12:14]
• 4. Continued Attendance Cannot Replace Belief. A person can remain in church while inwardly settling into unbelief. The danger comes when prolonged suffering becomes a settled judgment that God will never bring help or deliverance. Repentance turns that hardened conclusion back toward Christ and renews the expectation that he will come. [1:44:20]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [38:39] - Readings From John 5 and John 6
• [44:38] - Still Believing Through The Wait
• [48:10] - Bethesda And God’s Intentional Care
• [52:26] - The House Of Mercy And Covenant
• [59:13] - One Man Among A Multitude
• [1:03:08] - Long Waiting And Repeated Disappointment
• [1:09:35] - Waiting On The Lord With Courage
• [1:12:14] - Suffering Works Patience
• [1:17:37] - Faith Beneath An Exhausted Answer
• [1:23:28] - Present Suffering And Coming Glory
• [1:28:06] - Enduring Hardness Without Giving Up
• [1:43:13] - Christ’s Return And The Danger Of Unbelief
• [1:47:06] - An Invitation To Renewed Faith

Bible Reading

John 5:2-9
“Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. For an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool and stirred up the water; whoever then first, after the stirring of the water, stepped in was made well from whatever disease with which he was afflicted. One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, 'Do you want to be healed?' The sick man answered him, 'Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.' Jesus said to him, 'Get up, take up your bed, and walk.' And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.” [40:13]

John 6:66-69
“After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the twelve, 'Do you want to go away as well?' Simon Peter answered him, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” [42:25]

Romans 8:18
“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” [01:23:50]

Observation questions

1. In John 5:2–9, what details show the seriousness of the man’s condition and the obstacles he faced in seeking healing?
2. When Jesus approaches the man, what does Jesus already know about him? How does his attention to this one man stand out against the crowded setting? [59:21]
3. In John 6:66–69, how does Peter’s response differ from the actions of the disciples who leave? What reasons does he give for remaining with Jesus? [42:25]
4. In Romans 8:18, what two things does Paul place alongside each other? Which one does he describe as greater? [01:23:43]

Interpretation questions

1. The man’s answer to Jesus describes missing help and repeated disappointment. Why should an exhausted answer not automatically be treated as evidence that someone has no faith? [01:17:58]
2. What does Jesus’ attention to the man at Bethesda reveal about God’s care for someone who feels overlooked while others receive help? [01:20:08]
3. Peter’s reason for staying centers on who Jesus is and what he gives. How is that different from following Jesus only as long as circumstances improve? [42:46]
4. How can Paul’s comparison in Romans 8:18 encourage a suffering believer without suggesting that the person’s present pain is small or unimportant? How does that hope reach beyond relief in this life? [01:23:50]

Application questions

1. Where in your life has waiting become especially tiring? What would continuing to trust Jesus look like this week, even if that situation does not change? [01:18:45]
2. Have you recently watched someone else receive something you are still praying for? How did that affect your view of God’s care for you, and what might help you celebrate with them without hiding your own hurt? [01:05:36]
3. God can develop patience during a season without answers. Looking back on a difficult wait, what growth can you recognize? In a current struggle, what small practice might help you remain open to God’s work without pretending the pain is pleasant? [01:12:14]
4. The man at Bethesda lacked someone to help him. Who around you may be carrying a long struggle without enough support? What practical help could you offer this week, and what help might you need to ask for yourself? [01:19:32]
5. Remaining involved in church does not always mean the heart is still trusting God. Have you noticed disappointment becoming a settled belief that God will never help you? What might honestly bringing that conclusion to Christ in repentance look like? [01:44:20]
6. Christ’s return gives believers a hope beyond their present circumstances. How could keeping that hope in view shape one decision you face this week? How could this group help you keep walking with Jesus while you wait? [01:43:13]