UNBLOCKING THE WELL OF THE LIVING WORD

John 4:1–42 

Focus verse: ‘You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.’ (John 4:22) 

Old Testament lens: ‘Many peoples will come and say, “Come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God.”’ (Isaiah 2:3) 

Jesus tells the Samaritan woman, ‘You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.’  This simple but profound statement connects the story of Israel with the coming of Jesus and God’s plan of salvation for all nations. 

Throughout the Gospel of John, Jesus is shown as the fulfilment of Israel’s history, not the rejection of it. As scholar Richard Hays points out,(1) John’s Gospel highlights characters like Abraham, Moses, and Isaiah as figures who anticipated Jesus. These Old Testament stories form the foundation on which God’s saving work in Jesus is built. Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman reveals several important truths. First, He acknowledges the unique role of the Jewish people in God’s redemptive plan. The Jews have a special relationship with God and have been entrusted with the truth about Him. This echoes prophecies like Isaiah 2:3 and Zechariah 8:23, which envision the nations coming to Israel to learn God’s ways. In this sense, salvation is indeed ‘from the Jews’ — not because Jews themselves save, but because God has revealed His salvation to the world through them. 

At the same time, Jesus also introduces a major shift. When the woman raises the age-old debate about the correct place to worship — Mount Gerizim (Samaritan tradition) or Jerusalem (Jewish tradition) — Jesus responds that ‘a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem’ (John 4:21). He is pointing toward a new way of worship, not tied to a physical place, but based on the Spirit and truth. This is part of a broader transformation in how God’s presence is understood. In the Old Testament, Jerusalem and Mount Zion were seen as central to God’s dwelling. But now, in John’s Gospel, Jesus Himself becomes the new ‘locus’ of God’s presence. He is the Living Word, the true Temple, and the source of ‘living water’ that gives eternal life (John 4:10–14). Worship no longer depends on geography, but on a relationship with the Messiah. 

The Early Church Fathers who inspired the Celtic Church 

St Caesarius of Arles (470–542), Gaul 

‘The man who is humble, even if he sins, will be quickly forgiven; but the man who is proud, even if he seems to do good, will lose his reward.’(2)

This line captures Caesarius’ main spiritual theme: humility as the foundation of Christian life and salvation. One of the most inspiring and influential stories from Caesarius’ life is his founding of a monastery for women at Arles, which he placed under the leadership of his sister, St Caesaria the Elder. Around 512, Caesarius composed what is widely considered the earliest known monastic rule written specifically for women in the Western Church. This emphasised community life and strict discipline, yet with pastoral gentleness. The abbess held spiritual and administrative authority, but always in a spirit of service. This rule blended Eastern ascetic ideals with practical Western organisation. Caesaria of Arles made space for women. The Celtic Church valued monasticism for both men and women. 

The story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman is a powerful story of Jesus empathising and engaging in conversation. This characterised the approach of St Patrick, the Celtic saint who evangelised the Irish. Patrick was born in western Roman Britain in 389. He was ethnically British and a citizen of the Roman Empire and his family was part of the local nobility. At the age of 16, he was captured by a band of Irish raiders and was a slave for six years. He managed to escape and returned home, but a few years later he received a vision of a man named Victoricus, begging him to return. Despite his family strongly encouraging him not to, he returned in 432 with the purpose of taking the gospel to the Irish. 

How did Patrick reach the Irish? Hunter describes how Patrick’s mission team worked emotionally and artistically to connect with the people: ‘Upon arrival at a tribal settlement, Patrick would engage the king and other opinion leaders, hoping for their conversion or at least their clearance to camp near the people and form into a community of faith adjacent to the tribal settlement. The “apostolic” … team would meet the people, engage them in conversation and ministry … They would pray for sick people, and for [demon] possessed people … On at least one occasion Patrick blessed a river and prayed for thepeople to catch more fish … They would engage in some open-air speaking, probably employing parable, story, poetry, song, visual symbols … Often … Patrick would receive the people’s questions and then speak to those questions collectively.’(3)

The story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman is also a story of Jesus reaching out to an outcast. She went to the well at a time of day when she would be less likely to be seen as she was a social outcast. He reached out with words of knowledge regarding her broken past and the many men in her life, and clearly she felt known and understood by Jesus. She said in John 4:29, ‘Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did.’ In many ways the Celtic way of evangelism was the way Jesus demonstrated as He reached out to the Samaritan woman, and in doing so ‘many of the Samaritans in the town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony.’ (John 4:39) 

REVIVAL

The Samaritan woman’s transformation is striking. After her encounter with Jesus, instead of being questioning, she becomes a witness, telling others about Him. Roy Hession says, ‘Victorious and effective soul-winning service are not the product of better selves and hard endeavours, but are simply the fruit of the Holy Spirit. We are not called upon to produce the fruit, just simply to bear it. If you are to witness like Jesus your responsibility is to wake up the unbeliever. His conscience and the Holy Spirit are working with you. His basic problem is that he is selfish and he doesn’t care. Our responsibility is to show him that you do care and God cares too. You care enough to bring him to a place of honesty about his selfishness.’(4)

PRAYER

Lord, You are still waiting where the lost souls dwell, for the stranger, the sinner, the out-of-place. Lord, we pray for a Word and Spirit awakening in our day, where whole towns come to faith and drink from the wells of salvation and thirst no more, through empathetic relational mission and evangelism. Lord, we wait on You for that Word and Spirit awakening. 

The well at Sychar (CLICK ON PICTURE BELOW TO LISTEN TO SONG)

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(1) Hays, R.Echoes of the Scripture in the Gospels, Baylor University Press, (2018), 295

(2) Caesaria of Arles, Sermons, Fathers of the Church, Blackwells, (2004), 42,4

(3) Hunter,C.G . The Celtic Way of Evangelism, Abingdon Press, (2010)

(4) Hession, R. The Calvary Road, Rickford Hill, (2003)