UNBLOCKING THE WELL OF THE LIVING WORD

John 20:1–31 

Focus verse: ‘They have taken my Lord away’ (John 20:13) 

Old Testament lens: ‘The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away’ (Job 1:21) 

Mary is the first to discover the empty tomb, the first to encounter the risen Jesus, and the first to be commissioned to share the news. She becomes the ‘Apostle to the apostles’. 

Her story reminds us that the resurrection is deeply personal and communal. Mary mistakes Jesus for a gardener, which, Tom Wright notes, is profoundly appropriate.(1) Jesus is the new Adam in a new garden, tasked with bringing life and order from chaos. This isn’t a mistake, it’s a deeper truth. Through the cross and resurrection, Jesus has uprooted the thorns of sin and death and begun a harvest of new life. Wright encourages us to linger with Mary in her grief. Her tears mirror the brokenness of Israel and the world. And yet, through those tears, something incredible happens, Mary hears Jesus speak her name. That moment of recognition changes everything. It reminds us that Jesus meets us personally, calls us by name, and transforms our sorrow into joy. This personal encounter lies at the heart of the Christian faith. 

Later that same day, Jesus appears to the disciples, locked away in fear. He greets them with peace and shows them His wounds — proof of His identity and His victory. Then, He breathes on them and says, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’ Just as God breathed life into Adam, Jesus now breathes the Spirit into His followers, giving them new life and a new mission: ‘As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.’ 

The gift of the Spirit is given so that the disciples, and all believers, can carry on Jesus’ mission in the world: announcing forgiveness, bringing peace, and living out the reality of the resurrection. Mary’s tears give way to joy. The disciples’ fear gives way to purpose. We too are sent. We too are called. The risen Lord is alive, and we are part of His unfolding story. 

The Early Church Fathers who inspired the Celtic Church 

St Isaac the Syrian (613–700), Qatar 

‘Tears mark the moment when the heart has found the key to the heavenly treasure.’ (2)

Mary is in tears throughout this passage in John 20. Tom Wright encourages us to linger with Mary’s grief. She was clearly sad at the loss of Jesus Christ. 

St Isaac the Syrian has perhaps the most profound and detailed spiritual theology of tears. For Isaac, tears are not simply a sign of repentance (tears of compunction) — they are a whole mystical path, marking the progress of the soul from conversion, through purification, into contemplation and divine union. For Isaac, tears are the fruit of grace, not human emotion or self-effort. They appear when the Holy Spirit begins to work deeply in the heart. St Isaac outlines a mystical ‘ladder of tears’, a kind of inner ascent that parallels purification, illumination, and union. He distinguishes three kinds (or stages) of tears: 

• Tears of Conversion (Fear and Repentance). These arise when the soul awakens from sin and recognises its distance from God. ‘At first the soul weeps over its sins, for it has seen the multitude of its offences.’ 

• Tears of Purification (Healing and Prayer). As the soul is purified, tears begin to flow spontaneously — a cleansing spring that softens the heart. ‘Afterwards tears are granted without effort, as a sign that the heart has been cleansed. The mind delights in tears as in a fountain of life.’ 

• Tears of love and joy (Contemplation and Union). Finally, the soul weeps not from sorrow, but from the overwhelming sweetness of divine love, where tears flow from joy and love and ‘the mind is enkindled by the love of God and the heart is made glad beyond measure.’ 

Isaiah 12:3 says, ‘With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.’ The Orthodox saints had an understanding of the Resurrection as a ‘well of salvation’. The wells were considered to be: Incarnation, Crucifixion, Resurrection, Ascension, Pentecost, and the Second Coming. Each well provides a particular aspect to complete our salvation and so complete our glorification. We need every well. Throughout the ages the wells have been blocked, and we mostly drink now from the well of Crucifixion. The Catholics have focused on Incarnation, but the Orthodox Church has drawn much life from the Resurrection ‘well of salvation’. 

Many Celtic saints were deeply influenced by the Gospel accounts of the resurrected Christ, including John 20:1–31. Patrick says he was compelled by a divine calling to return to the land of his slavery and preach the gospel, as one sent by Christ. His obedience parallels the disciples being sent out after Christ’s resurrection: not in fear, but in Spirit-empowered mission. 

Monks in Celtic monasteries copied the Gospels by hand, often with great artistry and reverence. The Book of Kells and the Book of Durrow are Gospel books, not just artistic treasures: they were tools for evangelism — beauty meant to draw people into the mystery of Christ.

REVIVAL

Mary said, ‘They have taken my Lord away.’ She did not realise He was with her in his resurrected body. Jesus is no longer physically present with us. In Luke 5:35–38 we read that “the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast’. Lou Engel wrote a book, Nazarite DNA, calling for a generation of young people to fast and pray for revival. Hannah was barren … she groaned in the spirit and gave birth to Samuel, who was a Nazarite who was consecrated to the Lord. He gave up legitimate pleasures as he was set apart for God and he prepared the way for the king. 

Is it time for you to give up the legitimate pleasures of your life for the extreme pleasures of knowing God … to prepare the way for the King? Is there a new breed that hears the sound? … Jesus was born (the Incarnation), He died (the Crucifixion), He was restored to life (the Resurrection), He ascended to the Father (Ascension), He sent the Holy Spirit (Pentecost) and He will come (Second Coming). It is time to unblock these six wells (3) of salvation. As these six wells are unblocked, as we see the revelation of Jesus, the Living Word, the fountains of the great deep will burst forth and the glory of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. Lord, unblock the well of Jesus, the Living Word. 

PRAYER

You are our Bridegroom King. You have been taken away from us and it is time to fast and pray … Lord, raise up a new breed of young people, not just young people, mothers and fathers, who will produce a generation that can actually shift history like John the Baptist and become the hinge of history. Unblock a well of tears, tongues and travail, may the fountains of the great deep burst forth and may the glory of the Lord cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.

Go, tell the world ( CLICK ON PICTURE BELOW TO LISTEN TO SONG)

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(1) Wright, N.T. John for Everyone, Part 2 SPCK, 146

(2) Isaac the Syrian, The Homilies, 45.

(3) Meshreky, A. The Inner man and the formation of Christ, Shine International (2016)