That Time I Attended A Passover Meal..

A good friend of mine is part Jewish and invited my wife and I to participate in a Passover Seder with him and a few friends. Seder is just a fancy Hebrew word meaning, “the order of the service.”

When we arrived, the meal was set up on the living room floor of the apartment. We took off our shoes and sat down at a placemat. After everyone had arrived, my friend began walking us through the same Passover meal that Jesus would have had with his disciples the night of his betrayal.

During the Passover meal, the Jewish participants would imagine that they literally were part of the mass-exodus of ancestors that God delivered out of slavery in the land of Egypt. This wouldn’t just be something they would do “in remembrance” with some bread and wine; they would become a part of it themselves over a big meal. Each symbol and piece of food during the Passover meal has a significance that can be traced back in time to the story of God freeing His people. From the parsley, representing the hyssop which was used to place the blood of the Passover Lamb upon the sides and tops of the doorframe of their house, to the saltwater that it was to be dipped in that represented the tears shed in Egypt because life there was full of pain, suffering, and tears, each aspect of the meal is intentional and highly significant.

The part of the meal that was most moving and powerful for me, was called Dayenu. Dayenu is the Hebrew word which means “it would have been sufficient.” The leader of the Seder would read a sentence affirming God’s acts of mercy and kindness towards the Israelites followed by the rest of us exclaiming, “Dayenu!” It went as follows:

(Leader) Had He brought us out from Egypt and not judged them…

(All) Dayenu!

(Leader) Had He judged them and not judged their idols…

(All) Dayenu!

(Leader) Had he judged their idols and not slain their first-born…

(All) Dayenu!

(Leader) Had He slain their first-born and not given us their property…

(All) Dayenu!

(Leader) Had he given us their property and not divided the sea for us…

(All) Dayenu!

That would progress all the way through until they get to the part of the Israelite narrative where God gave them the promised land and the temple and the Jews exclaiming that if this is all God chose to do, then Dayenu!

Now, let’s stop there for a moment. I know from going to Sunday school like a good little Christian boy should, that it WOULD NOT have been enough for God to stop there. Giving the Israelites the promised land and the temple would have done nothing to overcome the curse that humanity plunged itself into the day that our ancestors chose their own way over God’s. However, Dayenu isn’t this idea that it would have been enough for us. Rather, it would have been enough for God.

It wasn’t God that chose to turn his back on his creation; it was the creation that decided to turn their back on their creator and we do the same thing every day in some way or another. But even though it would have been totally understandable and, some would argue, just, for God to wash his hands of us and leave us to drown in our own toxic existence, He didn’t. He chose to run after us. He chose to chase us and love us with a transforming love. He chose to reveal himself to us through Jesus and to allow all of our evil and corruption to kill him so that he could defeat all the things that threatened to have the last word over our lives, namely death.

So, when we would declare, “Dayenu”, in a way, we were admitting that it would have been totally justifiable for God to stop there in showing the Israelites mercy and kindness, BUT he didn’t stop there! He went as far as death on a cross so that, by raising to life and defeating the empire with it’s powers and threats, you and I could have “life and have it to the full” (John 10:10 NIV)!

Participating in the Passover Seder was an honor and it was a time-traveling experience where I felt as though I was in some way connected to the people of Israel as they remembered and celebrated God’s deliverance out of the bondage of slavery in the Land of Egypt by way of God’s leading through the Reed Sea. I felt closer to Jesus as we sat on the floor around the Passover meal with our friends, much like he did the night he would be stripped naked and beaten beyond recognition. I was reminded of how God had pursued me and led me out of bondage and slavery of the things that kept me prisoner and hostage, through Jesus’ suffering and death on the cross.

How about you? This Passover season, what can you look back to in your life where you evidently experienced the redemption and the deliverance of the love, grace, and power of Jesus? What can you look back on and declare DAYENU! – if God would have stopped there at things he has done for you, it would have been enough, for Him, but where He didn’t – he continued pursuing you, providing for you, and leading you out of slavery and bondage?

Or, maybe you feel like you’re still in some sort of bondage or slavery to someone or something. This Passover season, will you trust that God has a way out for you? Will you trust Him enough to take Him at his word and trust that He is lovely enough, powerful enough, and gracious enough, to provide you with new life in that area of your life, even if you’ve been doubting that as a possible reality for so long?

Dayenu!