It’s a good thing the Lord doesn’t mind saying the same thing over and over, because for most of us, faith lessons don’t come easy

4 min read

“And they remembered his words…” -Luke 24:8

They say that repetition is the key to learning.

And the research agrees.

A long time ago, German researcher Hermann Ebbinghaus found that “repeated exposure to information in spaced intervals provides the most powerful way to fix memory into the brain.”* Numerous studies since have demonstrated the same basic idea: what we repeat, we remember.

In other words, just like it takes several times to go the same way through the grass to make a path, so it takes several times interacting with information before it makes a new neural pathway in our brains. Whether the content is a Bible verse, a food recipe, or baseball statistics, the more frequently that information is in front of you, the more likely you are to remember it.

Redundant Jesus?

As we approach Easter, consider a vivid example where Jesus used repetition with his followers. Scripture testifies that, prior to the crucifixion and resurrection, Jesus repeatedly made a certain statement to those around him. It was a bit of information that he really wanted them to retain.

Here’s how Matthew describes it:

From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. (Matthew 16:21)

He said something similar again in Matthew 17:22 and then a third time in Matthew 20:17-19.

Not once. Not twice. But three times Jesus reiterated information to his followers of his upcoming death and resurrection.

But why? Was it because Jesus didn’t want them to be blindsided by the events that would unfold in Jerusalem when they got there? That may have been part of it.

Or was it because of how it would impact them after the fact when it finally dawned on them that Jesus had described the events of his Passion before they even happened?

Luke’s account says that when Mary and the other women came to tend to the body of Jesus, they found the tomb open and vacated. The body of Jesus was missing.

To ease their panic in that moment, the angel told them to “remember” what Jesus had said.

Then it clicked.

As they recalled that Jesus had foretold his own death and resurrection, they were reassured that the events they had just witnessed were not random acts of violence as it felt like they were, and that Jesus wasn’t a pitiful, helpless victim after all.

As his prophetic words came rushing back into their minds, the pieces of the story began to fit together. Suddenly they understood that God had a supreme plan and that things were going according to plan.

Once they remembered what Jesus had told them about his death and resurrection, they saw the world differently. From a “down here” perspective, a beautiful and innocent person changing the world with his love and power had been brutally and senselessly murdered.

But looking at it from an “up there” perspective, it would gradually become clear to his followers that what really happened is that God’s Son, the Lamb of God, had voluntarily died a substitutionary death for all of humanity. And in doing so, he had secured forgiveness and salvation for all who would put their trust in him.

Suddenly they understood that God had a supreme plan and that things were going according to plan.

As our Creator and master teacher, Jesus knows the rule about what gets repeated gets remembered. In fact, he made the rule. This is why repetition is part of his approach in teaching us his life-transforming word. He knows we have to hear it a few times before we get it.

But even when we don’t get it, the Lord doesn’t give up on us. He patiently repeats the promise, the principle, or whatever it is we need to hear in that moment. He just keeps telling us what he’s already told us a thousand times.

He knows it’ll click for us eventually.

It’s a new day with God. Run with it.

*Medina, John J., Brain Rules, p. 149, 2014