Enough
It’s Holy Week, which of course culminates in Good Friday and Easter for Christians. It’s also Passover, which is a holy time for Jewish people as well.
Of course, if you’re familiar with the amazing, God-ordained way that the Old and New Testaments fit together in one perfectly brilliant story, there’s nothing surprising about how and why Passover and Good Friday coincide.
Several years ago, I attended a Messianic Passover seder. It was wonderful to experience the time-honored tradition of Passover as seen through the lens of Christianity.
There’s one section of the Haggadah, the liturgy of the Passover celebration, that’s called “Dayenu.” The Hebrew word dayenu roughly translates to it would have been enough. The idea behind this section of the Haggadah is to look at different stages of the Israelite experience and say that “it would have been enough” for God to do a certain thing, but He did even more.
“Dayenu” is sort of a responsive reading. A host or cantor reads a line, and the participants in the seder respond with “it would have been enough.”
Of course, seeing Passover through a Christian or Messianic lens gives a satisfying twist to the ending of the “Dayenu” passage.
Here’s how it reads:
If He had rescued us from Egypt, but not punished the Egyptians, it would have been enough.
If He had punished the Egyptians, but not destroyed their gods, it would have been enough.
If He had destroyed their gods, but not have killed their firstborn, it would have been enough.
If He had given us their property, but not divided the Red Sea before us, it would have been enough.
If He had divided the Red Sea before us, but not brought us through it dry, it would have been enough.
If He had brought us through the sea dry, but not supplied us in the desert for forty years, it would have been enough.
If He had supplied us in the desert for forty years, but not fed us with manna, it would have been enough.
If He had fed us with manna, but not given us the Sabbath, it would have been enough.
If He had given us the Sabbath, but not brought us to Mount Sinai, it would have been enough.
If He had brought us to Mount Sinai, but not given us the Torah, it would have been enough.
If He had given us the Torah, but not brought us to the Land of Promise, it would have been enough.
If He had brought us to the Land of Promise, but not built us the Temple, it would have been enough.
If He had built us the Temple, but not provided permanent salvation, it would have been enough.
But praise the Lord! God provided permanent salvation through the sacrifice of our Messiah.
It’s a powerful thing to think about how God protected His people, from the Israelites down to believers today. And He sent His Son at the ultimate, perfect sacrifice for all who believe in Him.
As you mediate on God’s goodness this Holy Week and Passover, dwell on how God did enough and then more! I think you’ll overflow with praise as you do.