Repetition is a vehicle through which the Holy Ghost can enlighten our minds, influence our hearts, and enlarge our understanding." - Elder David A. Bednar. Christ in the Land Bountiful, Simon Dewey. Courtesy of Intellectual Reserve, Inc.“Repetition is a vehicle through which the Holy Ghost can enlighten our minds, influence our hearts, and enlarge our understanding,” explained Elder David A. Bednar.[1] Jesus Christ demonstrated significant repetitions in his teaching and other actions throughout his ministry in the Holy Land. Consider the repetitious themes in his parables of the lost sheep, lost coin, and prodigal son (Luke 15); the similar actions of miraculously feeding the groups of five and four thousand people with bread and fish (Mark 6; 8); and the repetitious prophecies of his own death (Matthew 16:21; Mark 9:31; Luke 18:31–33; John 3:14). A comparison reading of the mortal ministry of Jesus Christ in the Holy Land and his postmortal ministry in the Book of Mormon continues to validate the Savior’s practice of repetition with important teachings.[2]

The Savior’s use of repetition, however, is not limited to his mortal ministry. Unique repetitions used in his postmortal visits attest to the doctrinal importance of his actions and teachings. This study will discuss twelve distinctive narrative commonalities repeated in Jesus Christ’s three immediate postmortal recorded appearances: his visit to the spirit world, his resurrected return to the Holy Land, and his visit to the New World in the Book of Mormon. These commonalities are characterized under four categories:

1. The behaviors of the believers before and during Christ’s visit.
2. The interaction with those Christ visited.
3. Christ’s work and ministry during his visit.
4. The effects that Christ’s appearance had on believers during and after his visit.

Postmortal References

Behaviors of Believers before and during Christ’s Visit

Righteous Gathered in One Place Immediately before Christ’s Visit

In his vision of Jesus’s postmortal visit to the spirit world, President Joseph F. Smith saw that immediately before the visit “there were gathered together in one place an innumerable company of the spirits of the just” (Doctrine and Covenants 138:12).[3] Then, on a Sabbath evening in the Holy Land, the resurrected Jesus returned from the spirit world to visit a group of disciples who were likewise gathered, “assembled” behind closed protective doors (John 20:19).

While the group referred to in John 20 was relatively small, Christ soon after visited “above five hundred brethren at once” (1 Corinthians 15:6). Likewise, immediately before the resurrected Christ visited the New World (see John 10:16), the righteous people who survived the devastating destruction surrounding his death (see 3 Nephi 8–10; 10:12) were “gathered together” as a “great multitude” (11:1). Third Nephi 17:25 places the number at “about two thousand and five hundred souls” who were in audience.

The Righteous Conversed about Christ Immediately before His Visit

Doctrine and Covenants 138 states that the “spirits of the just” were “assembled awaiting the advent of the Son of God . . . to declare their redemption.” Furthermore, this group “waited and conversed, rejoicing in the hour of their deliverance” immediately before the “Son of God appeared” (vv. 12, 16, 18). In the Holy Land, soon after his resurrection, Jesus spent time with two disciples who were walking to Emmaus (see Luke 24). After realizing that the visitor who had walked, spoken, and eaten with them was the resurrected Lord, the two believers traveled the seven and a half miles[4] back to Jerusalem and “found the eleven gathered together and them that were with them” (v. 33). After telling the gathered group of their experience with the resurrected Jesus, the record says, “As they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them” (v. 26), indicating that the group was conversing of Jesus immediately before his visit. Similarly, in the New World, the group of righteous survivors were “conversing about this Jesus Christ” (3 Nephi 11:2) immediately before hearing the voice of the Father introducing his resurrected Son.

The Righteous Felt Effects of the Holy Spirit Immediately before or during Christ’s Visit

While the righteous spirits gathered and conversed in anticipation of the arrival of Jesus in his postmortal spirit body, “they were filled with joy and gladness” (Doctrine and Covenants 138:15).[5] The New Testament also notes the Holy Spirit’s effect on people in company with Jesus. The two Emmaus believers recognized the burning of heart while Jesus visited with them (see Luke 24:32). Further, when Christ visited his disciples soon after, they were so overcome with joy and wonder that it was difficult for them to believe the reality of Jesus’s visit (see v. 41).[6]

The Book of Mormon reveals that the believers in the New World heard a voice that did “pierce them to the very soul, and did cause their hearts to burn” (3 Nephi 11:3) immediately before Christ’s appearance. As an additional witness in the dispensation of the fulness of times, Joseph Smith recorded that immediately after being visited by the Father and Savior in the Sacred Grove, his “soul was filled with love, and for many days I could rejoice with great joy.”[7] Thus we have witnesses from different eras, locations, and records of the Holy Ghost’s chief role of testifying of Jesus Christ.[8]

The Righteous Bowed (or Fell) to the Earth at the Appearance of Jesus Christ

The righteous believers in Joseph F. Smith’s vision of the spirit world “bowed the knee and acknowledged the Son of God as their Redeemer and Deliverer” (Doctrine and Covenants 138:23). In related fashion, the disciples in the Holy Land “came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him” as their resurrected Lord (Matthew 28:9). The righteous believers in the New World “fell to the earth” (3 Nephi 11:12) after seeing the resurrected Jesus descend from above and upon hearing his words. Soon after, the people “did fall down at the feet of Jesus, and did worship him” (v. 17).[9]

The Interaction with Those Christ Visited

The Lord Appeared among Believers

In all the records of Jesus’s immediate postmortal visits, he personally visited and dwelled among the people. He did not send messengers; he did not visit in vision or by dream. All records testify of the living being of Jesus Christ (incorporeal or resurrected) visiting and dwelling among groups of believers. Doctrine and Covenants 138 records that while the righteous spirits were gathered and conversing, “the Son of God appeared” (v. 18) and was “among the righteous” (v. 30). The New Testament also records Jesus appearing and standing “in the midst” (Luke 24:36). Similarly, the Book of Mormon believers in 3 Nephi 11 experienced the resurrected Lord among them as “he came down and stood in the midst of them” (v. 8). This commonality shared in the visitations of Jesus Christ is a special symbol of his nature.[10] As the Savior visited each of these three different groups, he chose to visit them not from on high looking down on them but rather in their midst, that is, in the middle of and surrounded by them.[11]

Christ Declares His Victory and Power

Another commonality in Christ’s three immediate postmortal interactions was his declaration of victory and power. Elder Bruce R. McConkie taught, “The Lord Jesus worked out his own salvation while in this mortal probation by going from grace to grace, until, having overcome the world and being raised in immortal glory, he became like the Father in the full, complete, and eternal sense.”[12]

In Christ’s interaction with those he visited in the spirit world directly after his death, he declared “liberty to the captives” and “the redemption of mankind from the fall” (Doctrine and Covenants 138:18, 19). Also, when Christ appeared to his disciples in Galilee after his resurrection, he said, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth” (Matthew 28:28). In Christ’s visit to the Americas, he affirmed his victory in his matchless task of atonement saying, “I have drunk out of that bitter cup which the Father hath given me and have glorified the Father in taking upon me the sins of the world” (3 Nephi 11:11). The power of Christ’s obedience, which resulted in his eternal triumph and authority,[13] is evident in all three accounts of his immediate postmortal visitations to gathered people.

Christ Does Not Go among the Wicked

Another interesting commonality in Christ’s postmortal visits is his choice not to visit those considered wicked or unrighteous. It is possible that Christ had experienced wickedness and unrighteousness in such a quantity in mortality and during his atoning sacrifice that he no longer would place himself among the defiant and wicked.[14] In Joseph F. Smith’s vision of Christ’s visit to the spirit world, he saw that Jesus “did not go” unto the “wicked,” the “ungodly,” the “unrepentant,” and the “rebellious” (Doctrine and Covenants 138:20–21). The record states the unrighteous “[did not] behold his presence, nor look upon his face” (v. 21). A similar teaching of the Roman Catholic catechism states that after Christ’s death he “did not descend into hell to deliver the damned, nor to destroy the hell of damnation, but to free the just who had gone before him.”[15]

The account of Jesus’s visit to the Holy Land has less explicit detail of his choice not to visit the wicked and unbelieving, but Paul says of that visit that “[Christ] was seen of above five hundred brethren at once” (1 Corinthians 15:6). The word brethren in this verse suggests that the resurrected Christ interacted only with those who were followers and believers of his gospel. Modern Bible translations use the term followers to describe that group.[16] The New World record reveals the group to have been “the more righteous part of the people who were saved” (3 Nephi 10:12) from the destructions preceding the appearance of Jesus Christ.

Christ Interacts with Large Groups

In his witness to King Agrippa of the resurrected Christ, the Apostle Paul was accused of madness when testifying that Christ “should be the first that should rise from the dead” (see Acts 26:23–24). Paul then identified the wide-reaching knowledge of the gospel and resurrection of Jesus Christ when he said, “This thing was not done in a corner” (v. 26). Another commonality found in the Savior’s immediate postmortal visitations is reflective of the public dimension of Christ’s ministry—namely, his unconcealed interactions among large groups of believers. For example, in the spirit world the disembodied Christ visited “an innumerable company” (Doctrine and Covenants 138:12). Returning to his native land, the resurrected Lord not only visited his closest disciples and apostles (see John 20; 21) but also, as previously shown, appeared to a group of more than five hundred followers (see 1 Corinthians 15:6). The pattern of appearing to large groups continued in his New World advent, with the men, women, and children in his audience numbering about twenty-five hundred (see 3 Nephi 17:25).

Christ Shows the Prints of Nails in His Resurrected Body

Joseph Smith said that the spirit that dwells in a body is “more pure, elastic and refined matter than the body; that it [the spirit] existed before the body, can exist in the body; and will exist separate from the body.”[17] Any effect that physical damage to the mortal body may have on the spirit body is unknown. There is no indication that Jesus Christ, while visiting the spirit world as a disembodied spirit, showed the marks of his crucifixion to the people there. However, one principal commonality in the New Testament and Book of Mormon records the resurrected Christ showing and inviting people to feel those marks.[18] In the Bible, Jesus appeared to his disciples and invited them to see and feel his hands, feet, and side (see Luke 24:39–40; John 20:20, 27). An integral part of his messianic identity,[19] Jesus chose to keep his scars to allow believers to know he was the sacrificed lamb,[20] especially believers in the New World who did not experience Jesus as a Nazarene. Like his invitation to his disciples in Israel, Christ invited all in 3 Nephi 11 to witness for themselves that he was the “God of the whole earth” (v. 14). After his invitation “the multitude went forth, and thrust their hands into his side, and did feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet” (v. 15).

The Lord’s Work and Ministry

Christ Organizes, Appoints, and Commissions Messengers

The Savior’s desire to grant mercy and freedom to the captive dead directly after his suffering is inspiring. He did not seek respite; rather, the work of redemption continued under his direction, as shown in one of the most unequivocal of the common narrative elements discussed in this study. President Joseph F. Smith saw in vision that “from among the righteous, [Jesus] organized his forces and appointed messengers, clothed with power and authority, and commissioned them to go forth” (Doctrine and Covenants 138:30).

Christ’s directing role is also seen in his postmortal visit in Galilee. In this instance, unlike his appearances in the spirit world and the New World, Jesus had already called and appointed messengers in Israel who had spent several years with him as emissaries bearing his authority.[21] However, soon after his first resurrected visit (to Mary Magdalene outside the tomb in Jerusalem), Jesus met with his apostles on a mountain in Galilee and commissioned them to “go . . . into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). The pattern of organizing, appointing, and commissioning messengers of authority continued in Jesus’s appearance in the New World. Soon after the large group of believers “thrust their hands into his side, and did feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet,” Jesus “commanded [Nephi] that he should come forth” (3 Nephi 11:18) from the group. Christ then authorized Nephi by giving him “power” (v. 21). Nephi’s appointment was immediately followed by Jesus inviting eleven other men and giving them “power” (v. 22). The Savior admonished Nephi and the other eleven to “go forth unto this people, and declare the words which I have spoken, unto the ends of the earth” (v. 41).

Christ Instructs Authorized Messengers Whom to Teach and What to Teach

Closely related to the previous item is Christ’s pattern of instructing newly authorized messengers whom to minister to and what doctrine and saving principles and ordinances to impart. In the spirit world Jesus instructed those commissioned to go to all the spirits of men[22] and “carry the light of the gospel to them that were in darkness. . . . These were taught faith in God, repentance from sin, vicarious baptism for the remission of sins, the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, and all other principles of the gospel that were necessary” (Doctrine and Covenants 138:30, 33).

Similar to the simplicity and scope of the instructions Christ gave to messengers in the spirit world, the directives he taught his original apostles in Israel were both unmistakable and expected. After enjoining them to go to all nations, he instructed them to baptize “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost” and to teach all people to “observe all things whatsoever” he had commanded his apostles (Matthew 28:19, 20). We see scattered in various chapters in 3 Nephi repetition of Jesus’s instructions on what to teach and what to do after giving his newly appointed messengers “power to baptize” (11:22). He taught them the words to say when baptizing new converts and the correct method of baptism (see vv. 25–26). He tutored the New World apostles to teach people of his doctrine, which consisted of believing in Christ, repenting, and accepting baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost (see vv. 31–35).

Effects of Jesus’s Appearance on Believers during and after His Visits

Countenances of Believers Shining

Certainly one of the most noteworthy repetitions recorded in many interactions with Deity throughout scripture is an increase of light around a person or in a person’s countenance. When Moses descended from Mount Sinai after communing with God, “the skin of his face shone” (Exodus 34:29; see vv. 30–35). On a sacred mountain where Jesus was transfigured, “his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light” (Matthew 17:2). Other examples include Abinadi, whose face “shone with exceeding luster” as he confronted wicked King Noah (Mosiah 13:5); imprisoned Nephi and Lehi, whose faces “did shine exceedingly” as they “converse[d] with the angels of God” (Helaman 5:36, 39); and the New Testament martyr Stephen, whose face looked like “the face of an angel” (Acts 6:15).

The effect of Jesus’s divine light on those he visited after his death is recorded in two of his three immediate postmortal visitations. First, when Jesus visited the spirits of the just in the spirit world as the disembodied Holy One, “their countenances shone, and the radiance from the presence of the Lord rested upon them” (Doctrine and Covenants 138:24). This is particularly interesting because of the difference between spirit and physical bodies. Even though not clothed with his full divine body, the light and power of his spirit being exuded light that illuminated the faces of the just spirits awaiting their resurrection. Second, in the Savior’s New World visit “the light of his countenance did shine upon them, and behold they were as white as the countenance and also the garments of Jesus” (3 Nephi 19:25).

Although there is no record of this spiritual phenomenon happening to believers in Israel as a result of the Lord’s postmortal appearance among them, other effects of his divine presence were recorded. These include the burning of the hearts of the Emmaus disciples who spent time with him (see Luke 24:32) as well as the enlightened understanding given to his apostles so they could comprehend scriptures (see v. 45). It is possible that Jesus’s postmortal appearances in the Holy Land had other effects on his believers during and after those visits that were not recorded. As John states, “Many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book” (John 20:30).

Conclusion

The foregoing commonalities in the Lord’s postmortal appearances with different groups of God’s children as recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants, the Bible, and the Book of Mormon affirm the consistency of his interactions after his mortal ministry. Certainly, these patterns could not have been incidentally reported in three separate records that span thousands of years, different continents, different peoples, and even different sides of the veil. The three books of scripture provide multiple witnesses of the doctrinal importance of the Resurrection, Christ’s leadership in God’s kingdom, and Christ’s powerful effect on beings who interact with his divine presence.

These accounts display commonalities of certain behaviors of believers before and during the Lord’s visit, as well as commonalities in Christ’s specific interactions with each group. The records also show exceptional consistencies in the Redeemer’s ministrations and work among each group he visited. Lastly, commonalities in certain effects of the Savior’s presence on the groups of people are also evident in each of the records.

In a 2016 BYU–Idaho devotional, Elder David A. Bednar remarked that his wife, Susan, takes notes on the explanations and statements he uses when he repeats principles to different people in different venues and countries. Elder Bednar observes that “the messages are always the same and always different.” He adds that he and Susan “have learned to treasure the spiritual gems that are revealed through repetition.”[23] The study of the repetition found in the immediate postmortal visitations of the Savior has been a spiritual gem for me, and it is my hope that those repetitions are beneficial to a reader’s faith of the reality of Jesus Christ and the truthfulness of the scriptures in testifying of Jesus Christ.

Notes

[1] David A. Bednar, “Repeat Over Again . . . the Same Things as Before” (Brigham Young University–Idaho devotional, January 26, 2016), byui.edu.

[2] “It is clear that the Lord wants us to come unto Him and ask Him for whatever we need. The simple invitation to ‘ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you’ was repeated by the Lord on many occasions. He gave this message to the people He taught while He lived on earth. He repeated it twice to the people of the New World at the time of His visit to them following His resurrection, including His last words He gave them before returning to His Father in heaven. Interestingly, the Lord repeated the same invitation seven times in the Doctrine and Covenants. In varying ways throughout the scriptures, He has invited us to ask Him for whatever we need in righteousness, that He might give it unto us. The initiative, then, is ours. We must ask and pray and seek, and then we will find.” Boyd K. Packer, Teach Ye Diligently (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1991), 18.

[3] All instances herein of italics in scripture citations have been added by the author for emphasis.

[4] See Luke 24:13, footnote a.

[5] “The office of the Holy Spirit is to enlighten the minds of the people with regard to the things of God, to convince them at the time of their conversion of their having done the will of the Father, and to be in them an abiding testimony as a companion through life, acting as the sure and safe guide into all truth and filling them day by day with joy and gladness, with a disposition to do good to all men, to suffer wrong rather than to do wrong, to be kind and merciful, long suffering and charitable.” Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph F. Smith (Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1998), 70.

[6] Instead of KJV wondered, the New King James Version, the New International Version, the New English Translation, and the New Revised Standard Version use amazement, marveled, and disbelief.

[7] Gospel Topics, “First Vision Accounts,” topics.ChurchofJesusChrist.org.

[8] “A testimony is a witness or confirmation of eternal truth impressed upon individual hearts and souls through the Holy Ghost, whose primary ministry is to testify of truth, particularly as it relates to the Father and the Son. When one receives a testimony of truth through this divinely appointed process, it immediately begins to have impact on that person’s life.” M. Russell Ballard, “Pure Testimony,” Ensign, November 2004, 40.

[9] Bowing and serving are companion verbs of worship that demonstrate a relationship with one who is in authority. Jennifer C. Lane, “Worship: Bowing Down and Serving the Lord,” in Ascending the Mountain of the Lord: Temple, Praise, and Worship in the Old Testament, ed. Jeffrey R. Chadwick, Matthew J. Grey, and David Rolph Seely (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2013), 122–35.

[10] See David A. Bednar, “The Character of Christ” (Brigham Young University—Idaho devotional, January 25, 2003), byui.edu.

[11] See Joseph B. Wirthlin, “There Am I in the Midst of Them,” Ensign, May 1976, 56.

[12] Bruce R. McConkie, “Our Relationship with the Lord” (Brigham Young University devotional, March 2, 1982), speeches.byu.edu.

[13] See Jeffrey R. Holland, Christ and the New Covenant: The Messianic Message of the Book of Mormon (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1997), 251.

[14] “Jesus did not, would not, reenter the environment from which he had just come in mortality. . . . Jesus would no longer stand among the wicked and rebellious.” Andrew C. Skinner, “The Savior’s Ministry to the Spirit World,” in With Healing in His Wings, ed. Camille Fronk Olson and Thomas A. Wayment (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2013), 81–107.

[15] Catechism of the Catholic Church (New York: Doubleday, 1995), part 1, article 5, paragraph 1, 180. See also Robert L. Millet, “Christ’s Descent into Hell: A Latter-day Saint Perspective,” in Life Beyond the Grave: Christian Interfaith Perspectives, ed. Alonzo L. Gaskill and Robert L. Millet (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2019), 113–36.

[16] See 1 Corinthians 15:6 in the Contemporary English Version, the Good News Translation, and the New Living Translation.

[17] Times and Seasons, April 1, 1842, 735–750; see Jay E. Jensen, “Spirit,” in Encyclopedia of Mormonism, ed. Daniel H. Ludlow (New York: Macmillan, 1992), 1:871.

[18] See Richard L. Anderson, “The Ancient Practice of Crucifixion,” Ensign, July 1975.

[19] See Gaye Strathearn, “Christ’s Crucifixion: Reclamation of the Cross,” in Olson and Wayment, With Healing in His Wings, 55–79; see also Zechariah 13:6.

[20] For an insightful discussion of Christ as the sacrificial Lamb, see David Rolph Seely and Jo Ann H. Seely, “Behold the Lamb of God,” Ensign, April 2013, 44–49.

[21] See Matthew 4:19; 28:28; Mark 3:14; 6:7; Luke 6:13; 10:19; John 15:16.

[22] “Such delegation by the Lord Jesus Christ implies the continuing operation of the priesthood in the world of spirits.” Skinner, “Savior’s Ministry to the Spirit World,” 81–107.

[23] Bednar, “Repeat Over Again.”