UNBLOCKING THE WELL OF THE LIVING WORD

One of the most powerful invitations in the Gospel of John is the simple phrase, ‘Come and see’ (John 1:39). Spoken first by Jesus and then repeated by His early followers, it encapsulates the essence of discipleship: an invitation to encounter Christ personally and to join Him in His mission. This finds a rich parallel in the Gospel of Luke where the first miraculous catch of fish serves as a vivid symbol of calling and commission. Then the call is renewed through another miraculous catch in John 21. After the second miraculous catch of fish in John 21, Jesus renews that same invitation — a renewal of the commission in light of the resurrection. ‘Come and see’ becomes ‘go and tell’.

The pattern of ‘come and see’ leading to ‘go and tell’ forms the heartbeat of the biblical mission. From Abraham’s call to be a blessing to the nations (Genesis 12:1–3), to Israel’s role as a light to the Gentiles (Isaiah 49:6), to Jesus’ Great Commission (Matthew 28:18–20), God’s people are continually invited to encounter His presence and then extend His kingdom. The two miraculous catches of fish thus serve as symbolic bookends to the gospel story: first, the call to follow; later, the call to continue the mission in Christ’s power. The same Jesus who once said, ‘Come and see’ now says ‘Go and make disciples’. In the book of Acts, Jesus says to his disciples, ‘But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’ (Acts 1:8)

To the uttermost parts 

Early Irish monasticism saw missionary work as fulfilling Christ’s command to preach ‘to the ends of the earth’. St Patrick literally saw Ireland as the ends of the earth … and his need to physically go to them. Matthew 28:19–20 figured prominently in his thoughts as he saw the Irish mission as part of the bigger picture of making disciples of all nations. In the 6th century worldview, ‘the ends of the earth’ (in Latin, extremi terrae) was a biblical phrase, used in texts like Acts 1:8 and Psalm 19:4 — meaning the most remote or far-flung places where the gospel was to be preached. For monks coming from Ireland, the north and west coasts of Scotland truly felt like the far edge of the known world, cold, wild, beyond the boundaries of the Roman world. Other saints of the same era (eg St Columba, St Brendan, St Cormac Ua Liatháin) described their missions or pilgrimages as voyages ad ultimos terrarum fines (‘to the uttermost parts of the earth’). St Moluag (d592) was an Irish missionary monk, and contemporary of St Columba, who evangelised among the Picts. His main base was Lismore (off the west coast of Scotland). He went as far north as Kilmaluog, Lewis (near Eoropie, in Ness), which he believed was the ends of the earth.

Let’s cry out

The Early Church Fathers and the Celtic saints embraced a life of austerity and discipline, practising fasting and physical hardship, seeking to abide in Jesus, to become like Jesus and to bear fruit that would last, inner growth, and outward witness to the world. 

As we draw from old treasure and new, crying out for revival in the British Isles and Europe that the glory of the Lord would cover the earth as the waters cover the sea, taking the gospel to the ends of the earth, may it mean a new level of devotion, prayer and intercession, even crying out with tears, tongues and travail. 

The Early Church Fathers and Celtic saints have gone before us. Let’s cry out with Jesus, at the right hand of the Father right now, surrounded by this cloud of witnesses, for a new youth awakening unto a missionary monastic movement, to the ends of the earth. 

LET’S ‘COME AND SEE … GO AND TELL … UNBLOCK THE WELL OF THE LIVING WORD.’

Come and See, come and go (CLICK ON PICTURE BELOW TO LISTEN TO THE SONG)