Jesus Christ is the divine dayenu, God’s all-sufficient One, for whom we should give thanks to God every day. The first time I heard the word dayenu was in a song of praise by Michael Bunster & Puertas Eternas, which immediately captured my heart, so I wanted to look a little deeper into this Hebrew word. My first source—as always—was the Bible, in its original languages; however, the word itself is not found in it, although its meaning is explicit throughout Scripture, because it is the Word itself. Dayenu is a Jewish poem, composed of fifteen stanzas that recount all the historical events of the people of Israel, from their slavery in Egypt to the building of the temple. Set to music, it is sung at the celebration of the Passover feast in Jewish homes, and everyone joins their voices to sing the refrain at the end of each stanza, saying Dayenu, to express that, if that had been the only intervention of God in their lives, it would have been enough, but He did more than enough.
Dayenu means precisely that: “more than enough.” If we put it in context, the song begins by expressing how good God has been to the Hebrew people, and then goes on to list 15 acts that God generously granted to the Hebrew people. The first five refer to freedom from their slavery; the second five speak of the miracles God worked in the desert; and the last express the way God brought them near to Himself. In other words, they say: “If God had brought us out of Egypt, it would have been enough for us, but He did more: He executed judgment on the Egyptians and their gods; He killed the firstborn; He gave us their riches; He split the sea so that we could pass through on dry ground and drowned in it those who pursued us; He sustained us for forty years in the wilderness and fed us with bread from heaven; He gave us rest by sanctifying the Sabbath, and on Mount Sinai He gave us the Torah; and when He brought us into the promised land, He gave us the Temple where we could atone for our errors. Dayenu! You gave us more than enough.”
With that traditional song they celebrate and remember God’s intervention in their lives up to the building of the temple. But is it enough to be freed from slavery alone? Would it have been enough if He had only given us the Law, or Torah? Is it enough to merely possess the promised land or have the temple? No, it would not have been enough, it would not have been sufficient, and precisely there lies Dayenu: thanksgiving to God for His goodness and His infinite love. Man by himself could not have reached where God brought them and brings us. If He had only forgiven us, it would have been enough, but He gave us more. He not only gave us His life, but He gave us a new life in Him. Each individual act of goodness that God worked in that process of redemption obliges us to praise Him forever, so that Dayenu, more than an expression of “enough,” is an expression of joy, of gladness, of exalted praise (Heb. hallel) to the Wonderful One, to the Almighty, to the Most High, to the One who went beyond for them, for you, and for me.
Oh, my brother, my sister, “I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving” (Ps 69:30), with acts of thanksgiving, to the God who is more than sufficient! We did not deserve His love, and any action on His part in our favor would have been enough, not because we do not need it, but because we do not deserve it; yet He did more, not only for them as a people, but for all humanity. So let us go through each stanza, drawing the parallel between what the Lord did yesterday and what the Lord Jesus Christ, the all-sufficient One, did and is doing today…
Five stanzas of God’s deliverance from the yoke of slavery
If He had brought us out of Egypt, and had not carried out judgments against them, Dayenu, it would have been enough for us! If He had carried out judgments against them, and not against their idols, Dayenu, it would have been enough for us! If He had destroyed their idols, and had not struck down their firstborn, Dayenu, it would have been enough for us! If He had struck down their firstborn, and had not given us their riches, Dayenu, it would have been enough for us! If He had given us their riches, and had not divided the sea for us, Dayenu, it would have been enough for us!
In the same way, Jesus Christ brought us out of the world, condemned sin in the flesh, destroyed all those things of which we are now ashamed, giving us the abundant riches of His grace, Dayenu, more than enough.
Five stanzas of God’s miracles
If He had divided the sea for us, and had not taken us through it on dry ground, Dayenu, it would have been enough for us! If He had taken us through the sea on dry ground, and had not drowned our oppressors in it, Dayenu, it would have been enough for us! If He had drowned our oppressors in it, and had not supplied our needs in the wilderness for forty years, Dayenu, it would have been enough for us! If He had supplied our needs in the wilderness for forty years, and had not given us the manna, Dayenu, it would have been enough for us! If He had given us the manna, and had not given us the Shabbat, Dayenu, it would have been enough for us!
So Christ made a new and living way, and through baptism in His name, we are now saved by faith. Likewise, Christ is the bread that came down from heaven so that whoever eats of it will not die, and will have eternal life. Since then, we have a new life in Him, where we are sanctified and purified through the Word, our manna, the bread of life, Dayenu, more than enough.
Five stanzas of communion with God
If He had given us the Shabbat, and had not brought us before Mount Sinai, Dayenu, it would have been enough for us! If He had brought us before Mount Sinai, and had not given us the Torah, Dayenu, it would have been enough for us! If He had given us the Torah, and had not brought us into the land of Israel, Dayenu, it would have been enough for us! If He had brought us into the land of Israel, and had not built for us the sacred temple, Dayenu, it would have been enough for us!
When we believed, we entered into the rest of God. Therefore, the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus sets us free from the law of sin and death, to serve the living God, in our body, which is the spiritual temple, where we give Him reasonable service. And all of that we enjoy through Christ, the eternal Dayenu, the all-sufficient One, not only because He has given us everything, but because He has given Himself completely.
This song is a reminder of God’s intervention in our lives, He who has helped us thus far. And if God did not spare even His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also, along with Him, freely give us all things? (Rom 8:32). At the moment when Jesus was saying farewell to the disciples, after having risen, and knowing that He must ascend to heaven, He told them: “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you; I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to myself, that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:1-3). And if Christ has been the provision that the Almighty has given us, then His death and His life, and all that we are in Him, is Dayenu, more than enough for all of us. Let us give thanks to God always.
Contribution by: Marítza Mateo
