Introduction
Tony Bullimore, aged fifty-six, was one of Britain’s most experienced transatlantic yachtsmen. He was feared dead after his sixty-foot yacht, Exide Challenger, capsized amid the icy vastness of the Southern Ocean, two months into the Vendée Globe round-the-world race.
The keel came off in fifty-foot waves. The boat went over. In his book, Saved, Bullimore described it as being like the Niagara Falls upside down. For four days he was entombed in a dark, noisy, wet and cold upside-down world with fifty-foot swells and a temperature hovering around freezing.
He suffered the discomfort of seasickness and drawing breath from a few feet of air between the water level and what was once the bottom of the boat. He was more than a thousand miles from the nearest land. As the air supply diminished he prayed that he would be rescued.
It was the Royal Australian Navy that came to the rescue. With modern satellite and surveillance technology the Australian government had pinpointed the progress of all the yachts and sent out a rescue team.
After four days, Bullimore heard banging on the side of his yacht. He said afterwards, ‘I can never thank the Australian Navy enough for what they have done because they have genuinely saved my life, there is no question.’ The first words when he emerged were, ‘Thank God, it is a miracle.’ He said, ‘I felt like I had been born all over again. I felt like a new man. I felt I had been brought to life again.’
As one journalist put it at the time, ‘A rescue that succeeds against all odds and every expectation is the best of all stories. It is pure and spontaneous joy.’ Supremely Jesus ‘gave himself for our sins to rescue us’ (Galatians 1:4a).
As I look back on my life, I can see many occasions when God has rescued me. As you face difficult situations you can trust that God will rescue you.
Psalm 31:1-8
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
1 In you, Lord, I have taken refuge;
let me never be put to shame;
deliver me in your righteousness.
2 Turn your ear to me,
come quickly to my rescue;
be my rock of refuge,
a strong fortress to save me.
3 Since you are my rock and my fortress,
for the sake of your name lead and guide me.
4 Keep me free from the trap that is set for me,
for you are my refuge.
5 Into your hands I commit my spirit;
deliver me, Lord, my faithful God.
6 I hate those who cling to worthless idols;
as for me, I trust in the Lord.
7 I will be glad and rejoice in your love,
for you saw my affliction
and knew the anguish of my soul.
8 You have not given me into the hands of the enemy
but have set my feet in a spacious place.
Psalm Commentary
Trust God to rescue you
It is sometimes very hard to keep trusting in God, especially if things seem to go wrong in your life – with your relationships, work, finances, health or some other situation. David’s prayer here is an encouragement to cry out to God to rescue you and then to put your trust in God.
As Tony Bullimore prayed for rescue, so David prayed, ‘Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue’ (v.2a), ‘I trust in, rely on, and confidently lean on the Lord’ (v.6b, AMP).
David said, ‘Into your hands I commit my spirit’ (v.5). Just before he died, Jesus echoed these words. He called out with a loud voice, ‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit’ (Luke 23:46). These are the ultimate words of trust.
In this psalm we see the results of God’s love for you shown supremely through the death of Jesus. The Lord is:
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Your refuge
The psalm starts with the words, ‘In you, Lord, I have taken refuge’ (Psalm 31:1a). Later he says, ‘Keep me free from the trap that is set for me, for you are my refuge’ (v.4). There are many trials, tests, traps and temptations in this life. In all this, the Lord is your refuge.
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Your rock
David writes, Lord ‘be my rock’ (v.2b) and ‘since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me’ (v.3). You can know God’s guiding and leading, by his Spirit. He is your security on which you can depend.
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Your rescuer
He prays, ‘Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue’ (v.2a). He goes on to describe how God saw the ‘affliction and… anguish of [his] soul’ (v.7b). Yet God did not hand him over to the enemy (v.8a). He rescued him and ‘set [his] feet in a spacious place’ (v.8b). In Jesus you receive the ultimate rescue. He will set your feet in a spacious place.
Prayer
Lord, thank you that you have rescued me. In all the trials of life, help me to keep trusting in you.
Mark 13:32-14:16
The Day and Hour Unknown
32 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. 34 It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with their assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.
35 “Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. 36 If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. 37 What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’”
Jesus Anointed at Bethany
14 Now the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were scheming to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. 2 “But not during the festival,” they said, “or the people may riot.”
3 While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.
4 Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? 5 It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.
6 “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 7 The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. 8 She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. 9 Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”
10 Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. 11 They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over.
The Last Supper
12 On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus’ disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?”
13 So he sent two of his disciples, telling them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. 14 Say to the owner of the house he enters, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ 15 He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.”
16 The disciples left, went into the city and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.
New Testament Commentary
Love your rescuer passionately
Love for Jesus is even more important than love for the poor. Indeed, it is our very love for Jesus that overflows into love for others, especially the poor.
Love like this lies behind the anointing of Jesus’ body. This woman acted out of gratitude and love for Jesus. In light of this, her extravagance with very expensive perfume (probably a year’s wages) was not a ‘waste’ (14:4). Of course, Jesus was not unmindful of the needs of the poor. However, he said the money she gave was not wasted: ‘She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial’ (v.8).
That act of generosity would be remembered for all time (v.9). In Jesus’ eyes, nothing you give out of love for him is ever wasted (vv.7–8) or ever forgotten by him (v.9). Rather, he sees everything you give out of love for him as ‘a beautiful thing’ (v.6). There is something beautiful about every act of generosity.
Jesus’ reference to his burial draws attention to the fact that the events of Jesus’ life are coming to a climax. As they do, it is clear that the Passover was the setting that Jesus chose for the final events of his life.
Five times, in this passage alone, the Passover is mentioned (vv.1,12,14,16). Jesus clearly understood his death in terms of the Passover lamb that was to be sacrificed (v.12). It was the blood of the Passover lamb that rescued God’s people from judgment and death. ‘For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed’ (1 Corinthians 5:7b).
We see here further evidence that Jesus thought of himself as the unique Son of God. As he speaks about his coming again he says, ‘About that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father’ (Mark 13:32).
What gratitude Tony Bullimore felt for those who rescued him! He said that he could never thank them enough. How much more gratitude and love should we have for the one who has given his life to rescue us from eternal death.
Prayer
Lord, thank you that you gave your life as a Passover sacrifice to rescue me from judgment and death. Thank you that every time I eat the ‘Lord’s Supper’ I am reminded of your sacrifice and my rescue.
Leviticus 15:1-16:34
Discharges Causing Uncleanness
15 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When any man has an unusual bodily discharge, such a discharge is unclean. 3 Whether it continues flowing from his body or is blocked, it will make him unclean. This is how his discharge will bring about uncleanness:
4 “‘Any bed the man with a discharge lies on will be unclean, and anything he sits on will be unclean. 5 Anyone who touches his bed must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening. 6 Whoever sits on anything that the man with a discharge sat on must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening.
7 “‘Whoever touches the man who has a discharge must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening.
8 “‘If the man with the discharge spits on anyone who is clean, they must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening.
9 “‘Everything the man sits on when riding will be unclean, 10 and whoever touches any of the things that were under him will be unclean till evening; whoever picks up those things must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening.
11 “‘Anyone the man with a discharge touches without rinsing his hands with water must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening.
12 “‘A clay pot that the man touches must be broken, and any wooden article is to be rinsed with water.
13 “‘When a man is cleansed from his discharge, he is to count off seven days for his ceremonial cleansing; he must wash his clothes and bathe himself with fresh water, and he will be clean. 14 On the eighth day he must take two doves or two young pigeons and come before the Lord to the entrance to the tent of meeting and give them to the priest. 15 The priest is to sacrifice them, the one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. In this way he will make atonement before the Lord for the man because of his discharge.
16 “‘When a man has an emission of semen, he must bathe his whole body with water, and he will be unclean till evening. 17 Any clothing or leather that has semen on it must be washed with water, and it will be unclean till evening. 18 When a man has sexual relations with a woman and there is an emission of semen, both of them must bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening.
19 “‘When a woman has her regular flow of blood, the impurity of her monthly period will last seven days, and anyone who touches her will be unclean till evening.
20 “‘Anything she lies on during her period will be unclean, and anything she sits on will be unclean. 21 Anyone who touches her bed will be unclean; they must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening. 22 Anyone who touches anything she sits on will be unclean; they must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening. 23 Whether it is the bed or anything she was sitting on, when anyone touches it, they will be unclean till evening.
24 “‘If a man has sexual relations with her and her monthly flow touches him, he will be unclean for seven days; any bed he lies on will be unclean.
25 “‘When a woman has a discharge of blood for many days at a time other than her monthly period or has a discharge that continues beyond her period, she will be unclean as long as she has the discharge, just as in the days of her period. 26 Any bed she lies on while her discharge continues will be unclean, as is her bed during her monthly period, and anything she sits on will be unclean, as during her period. 27 Anyone who touches them will be unclean; they must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening.
28 “‘When she is cleansed from her discharge, she must count off seven days, and after that she will be ceremonially clean. 29 On the eighth day she must take two doves or two young pigeons and bring them to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 30 The priest is to sacrifice one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. In this way he will make atonement for her before the Lord for the uncleanness of her discharge.
31 “‘You must keep the Israelites separate from things that make them unclean, so they will not die in their uncleanness for defiling my dwelling place, which is among them.’”
32 These are the regulations for a man with a discharge, for anyone made unclean by an emission of semen, 33 for a woman in her monthly period, for a man or a woman with a discharge, and for a man who has sexual relations with a woman who is ceremonially unclean.
The Day of Atonement
16 The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron who died when they approached the Lord. 2 The Lord said to Moses: “Tell your brother Aaron that he is not to come whenever he chooses into the Most Holy Place behind the curtain in front of the atonement cover on the ark, or else he will die. For I will appear in the cloud over the atonement cover.
3 “This is how Aaron is to enter the Most Holy Place: He must first bring a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. 4 He is to put on the sacred linen tunic, with linen undergarments next to his body; he is to tie the linen sash around him and put on the linen turban. These are sacred garments; so he must bathe himself with water before he puts them on. 5 From the Israelite community he is to take two male goats for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.
6 “Aaron is to offer the bull for his own sin offering to make atonement for himself and his household. 7 Then he is to take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 8 He is to cast lots for the two goats—one lot for the Lord and the other for the scapegoat. 9 Aaron shall bring the goat whose lot falls to the Lord and sacrifice it for a sin offering. 10 But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord to be used for making atonement by sending it into the wilderness as a scapegoat.
11 “Aaron shall bring the bull for his own sin offering to make atonement for himself and his household, and he is to slaughter the bull for his own sin offering. 12 He is to take a censer full of burning coals from the altar before the Lord and two handfuls of finely ground fragrant incense and take them behind the curtain. 13 He is to put the incense on the fire before the Lord, and the smoke of the incense will conceal the atonement cover above the tablets of the covenant law, so that he will not die. 14 He is to take some of the bull’s blood and with his finger sprinkle it on the front of the atonement cover; then he shall sprinkle some of it with his finger seven times before the atonement cover.
15 “He shall then slaughter the goat for the sin offering for the people and take its blood behind the curtain and do with it as he did with the bull’s blood: He shall sprinkle it on the atonement cover and in front of it. 16 In this way he will make atonement for the Most Holy Place because of the uncleanness and rebellion of the Israelites, whatever their sins have been. He is to do the same for the tent of meeting, which is among them in the midst of their uncleanness. 17 No one is to be in the tent of meeting from the time Aaron goes in to make atonement in the Most Holy Place until he comes out, having made atonement for himself, his household and the whole community of Israel.
18 “Then he shall come out to the altar that is before the Lord and make atonement for it. He shall take some of the bull’s blood and some of the goat’s blood and put it on all the horns of the altar. 19 He shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times to cleanse it and to consecrate it from the uncleanness of the Israelites.
20 “When Aaron has finished making atonement for the Most Holy Place, the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall bring forward the live goat. 21 He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites—all their sins—and put them on the goat’s head. He shall send the goat away into the wilderness in the care of someone appointed for the task. 22 The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a remote place; and the man shall release it in the wilderness.
23 “Then Aaron is to go into the tent of meeting and take off the linen garments he put on before he entered the Most Holy Place, and he is to leave them there. 24 He shall bathe himself with water in the sanctuary area and put on his regular garments. Then he shall come out and sacrifice the burnt offering for himself and the burnt offering for the people, to make atonement for himself and for the people. 25 He shall also burn the fat of the sin offering on the altar.
26 “The man who releases the goat as a scapegoat must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water; afterward he may come into the camp. 27 The bull and the goat for the sin offerings, whose blood was brought into the Most Holy Place to make atonement, must be taken outside the camp; their hides, flesh and intestines are to be burned up. 28 The man who burns them must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water; afterward he may come into the camp.
29 “This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: On the tenth day of the seventh month you must deny yourselves and not do any work —whether native-born or a foreigner residing among you— 30 because on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. Then, before the Lord, you will be clean from all your sins. 31 It is a day of sabbath rest, and you must deny yourselves; it is a lasting ordinance. 32 The priest who is anointed and ordained to succeed his father as high priest is to make atonement. He is to put on the sacred linen garments 33 and make atonement for the Most Holy Place, for the tent of meeting and the altar, and for the priests and all the members of the community.
34 “This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: Atonement is to be made once a year for all the sins of the Israelites.”
And it was done, as the Lord commanded Moses.
Old Testament Commentary
Marvel at God’s amazing rescue plan
Because of his great love for you, God meticulously planned your rescue. The rescue of Tony Bullimore took days of planning and preparation. Of course, God’s great rescue plan for humanity took far more planning, preparation and prefiguring.
The regulations about ‘uncleanness’ seem very strange to our modern ears. This is because they no longer apply to us. They were fulfilled and superseded by Jesus.
The Day of Atonement (chapter 16) lays the background to the death of Jesus. St Paul writes, ‘God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement’ (Romans 3:25). The writer of Hebrews says that Jesus ‘had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people’ (Hebrews 2:17).
The fact that the high priest’s own access had to be won by sacrifice was proof enough of the priesthood’s inadequacy (Hebrews 5:3; 7:27; 9:7; 9:11–15).
In the sacrifice on the Day of Atonement we see an astonishing foreshadowing of the cross: ‘He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites – all their sins – and put them on the goat’s head. He shall send the goat away into the wilderness… the goat will carry on itself all their sins’ (Leviticus 16:21–22a). This is the origin of the English word ‘scapegoat’ (‘the goat of removal’, v.8).
This prefigures your sin and my sin being ‘laid’ on Jesus (see Isaiah 53:4–6). The apostle Peter writes of Jesus, ‘“He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross’ (1 Peter 2:24a). He is the one who sends our sins away ‘as far as the east is from the west’ (Psalm 103:12). When John the Baptist saw Jesus he said, ‘Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!’ (John 1:29).
As a result, an amazing change has taken place in your relationship with God. Through Jesus, you can now enter into the Holy of Holies everyday (Hebrews 10:19–20). You can come boldly to the throne of grace (4:16) and know that you will always be welcome.
Prayer
Lord, thank you that you have rescued me by your blood and you died as a ransom to set me free. Thank you that I can now come boldly into your presence every day.
Pippa adds
In Psalm 31 I love the picture of God being our ‘strong fortress’ (v.2). Back in Medieval Britain, when raiders came to attack a village, the villagers would run for safety to a fortress and, once they were all inside, they would pull up the drawbridge. This would cut off the enemy’s access and keep everyone safe inside. When times are tough we can take refuge in God who is our fortress.
Verse of the Day
Psalm 31:6
‘As for me, I trust in the Lord.’
References
Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version Anglicised, Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 Biblica, formerly International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Publishers, an Hachette UK company. All rights reserved. ‘NIV’ is a registered trademark of Biblica. UK trademark number 1448790.
Scripture quotations marked (AMP) taken from the Amplified® Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)
