Faith and Unbelief Both Grow

Sermon based on John 4:43-54 · Momentum Church (Tokyo)

Introduction

There is a simple truth Jesus places before our eyes in the second half of John 4: your faith is never static. It grows or it shrinks. And your unbelief does not sit quietly in a corner either. It grows too. There is no neutral zone, no tie, no fifty-fifty. Every time you hear the word of God, something shifts in you, one way or the other.

The passage in John 4:43-54 tells of two opposite reactions to the same person, Jesus. In Nazareth, the people who watched him grow up refuse to believe in him, even though they have heard what he did. In Capernaum, a royal official who has seen nothing believes on his word alone that his son will live. Two directions. Two trajectories. Two lives that tip one way or the other.

The Outline of the Passage

1. Jesus Returns to Galilee After Samaria

In chapter 4, Jesus has just spent two days in Sychar, in Samaria, with the woman at the well. An entire town believed because of her testimony. Jesus then leaves for Galilee. John notes that Jesus himself had said that "a prophet has no honor in his own hometown" (John 4:44). This comment sets up the contrast that follows: the Samaritans welcome him, the people of his own region do not truly honor him.

The Galileans do receive him, yes, but because they had seen what he did in Jerusalem during the feast (John 4:45). They are drawn by the spectacle, not by his person. That is not quite faith, that is curiosity.

2. The Royal Official from Capernaum

An official in the king's service hears that Jesus has come back to Galilee. His son is sick, dying. He travels down from Capernaum to Cana and begs Jesus to come heal his child before he dies.

Jesus's answer, at first, sounds harsh: "Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe" (John 4:48). This is not aimed only at this man, it is a diagnosis of an entire generation. You only believe what you see. You want proof before you will trust.

The official presses on: "Sir, come down before my child dies" (v. 49). He does not argue with the sharpness of Jesus's words. He simply lays down his need.

3. The Word Alone, Without the Sign

Jesus answers him, "Go; your son will live" (v. 50). Nothing else. No gesture, no travel, no display.

And here is the decisive line of the account: "The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way."

He has seen nothing. He has no proof. He has only the word of a man he has just met. And he sets off, nearly a day's walk, with that word as his only support. This is the faith that pleases God: hearing the word and believing it, without demanding to be served first.

4. The Sign Confirms It Afterward

On the way, his servants meet him and tell him his son is healed. He asks at what hour the boy got better. It was the seventh hour, the exact hour Jesus had said "your son will live."

The text then says, "He himself believed, and all his household" (v. 53). His faith, which had already happened by the roadside, grows further through the experience. He believes in a new way. And that faith spreads: his wife, his children, his servants enter into it too.

5. Two Towns, Two Directions

Remember Nazareth. Remember the Samaritans of Sychar. Now remember the official's household in Capernaum.

Nazareth hears, sees, and refuses. Sychar hears the word of a woman, goes to check, and believes. The official hears the word of Jesus, believes before checking, and an entire household follows. Every heart that meets Jesus leaves either more believing or more unbelieving. No one leaves neutral.

Key Takeaways

• Faith is not a state, it is a movement. It grows when you listen to the word and act on it. It shrinks when you wait to see before you believe.
• Believing means trusting what God has said before you see its effect. The official walked an entire day on just one sentence. That is faith.
• Unbelief grows too. The people of Nazareth did not harden all at once. They refused, again and again, until they no longer recognized anything, even when Jesus was performing miracles right in front of them.
• There is no middle ground. You cannot be fifty percent believing and fifty percent unbelieving in the same area. In the end, one of the two wins out.
• Faith spreads. When one heart truly believes, its household is marked by it. Those around you benefit from your faith, or suffer from your unbelief.

Personal Application

1. On what specific point has God spoken to you recently, while you refuse to move until you have "seen"?
2. What word of Scripture are you willing to believe today, even before you see the result in your life?
3. Where do you recognize that your unbelief has grown in recent months? In what area have you stopped trusting?
4. Does your faith, today, mark your household, your loved ones, your surroundings? Or is it your doubt that is spreading to them?
5. What next concrete step of obedience is Jesus asking of you this week, based on a word you already know?

Verses Cited

• John 4:43-54 · the sermon passage
• John 4:44 · "a prophet has no honor in his own hometown"
• John 4:48 · "Unless you see signs and wonders"
• John 4:50 · "Go; your son will live"
• John 4:53 · "He himself believed, and all his household"

FAQ

Is it wrong to want to see before believing?

Wanting signs is not a sin in itself, but Jesus rebukes his contemporaries for turning it into a condition. Biblical faith begins by hearing and trusting the word, and signs often come afterward to confirm it. If your faith depends solely on what you see, it will collapse the moment you no longer see anything.

How can you know whether your faith is growing or shrinking?

Look at what you do with the word God gives you. If you listen to it and set out, your faith grows. If you hear it and set it aside while waiting for "proof," your unbelief grows without your even noticing. There is no status quo, your life of faith moves with every word you hear.

Why did Jesus first answer the official so harshly?

His remark, "unless you see signs...", is not a rejection but a diagnosis. He is pointing to a generation chasing after spectacle. Then he gives the official the chance to move beyond that expectation: "Go; your son will live." The official takes hold of that word, and his faith becomes an example for his entire household.