Encounters with Jesus

In some NDEs the experiencer called out to Jesus (Howard Storm, an atheist at the time) or simply requested to see him (Teresa). Where they did so they got a response and Jesus appeared to them. In others, encountering Jesus just happened. Yvonne Sneeden went into the light and the figure of Jesus simply appeared and came towards her. For Charmian Redwood encountering Jesus was a surprise. Charmian was not spiritual in any sense at the time of her NDE and when she encountered Jesus and even said “No, no, I’m not one of yours”. For Carol Lynn Vengroff she felt she suddenly expanded in her NDE and had a Christ consciousness experience but at the same time experienced Jesus as a physical and historical human being – the encounter had a dual nature to it. Carol then expanded further to experience God.

In other NDEs, universal spiritual teachings are given that do not require the presence of Jesus. For Nancy Rynes the teachings were given to her by a group of beings who wanted to share what they knew and what mattered.

Comparison with NDEs involving God

Encounters with God, as God, can vary between an encounter with ‘the light’ by Tom Sawyer, ‘a being of light’, an audible connection with God or experiencing the infinite un-manifest possibilities of God. In all these cases God is recognized or described as God or a direct aspect of God. NDEs involving Jesus and God can have similarities at an expanded level but when Jesus is encountered as a being he seems to be instantly recognized and explicitly referred to as Jesus. Experiencing Jesus as a spiritual being may be more accessible to us than the expanded Christ experience. And that this expanded Christ experience in turn may be more accessible to us than an even more expanded God realization experience.

Key takeaways

Three key things seem to arise with encounters with Jesus:

The encounters with Jesus are not limited to people who are Christians. Non-religious people also have profound experiences with Jesus and instantly recognize who he is. When people encounter Jesus they have an overwhelming experience of being accepted and loved as the are.
The key message of Jesus revolves around love. How we treat others really matters and the love we treat others with ripples out to everyone. This is what we are being called to do. This most closely matches his Sermon on the Mount teachings on love, forgiveness and not judging people.
Jesus appears to be more than a normal spiritual being. Both Jesus the man and the Christ are experienced in NDEs – in both cases the experience seems to be greater and more significant than encountering other spiritual beings.

Implications of these encounters

From what is encountered in NDEs, Jesus appears to have lived as a real historical figure. Some experiencers have merged with him in their NDE and felt the life that he lived. This life was experienced as being real (Carol Lynn Vengroff) and not just a historical creation. The way the Gospels have been subsequently written up may have incorporated elements from other traditions, but remove any later additions and you are left with a real historical figure.

Jesus also appears to be a highly evolved spiritual being who can manifest in many different ways, from personable to vast in scale and as a minimum is at the level of the City of Light beings who illuminate from within. When Tom Sawyer asked “about all the Jesus stuff” he was answered “in the affirmative”. Frustratingly, we don’t have an answer as to exactly what that implies or what Tom’s understanding was at the moment he asked the question. However, when George Ritchie first encountered Jesus it was clearly impressed on his mind that “You are in the presence of the Son of God.”

We cannot assume these encounters import the whole Christian understanding about Jesus as other encounters with Jesus show differences to the Christian tradition, but it suggests there is something very significant about Jesus as a figure. George Ritchie described the light of Jesus as so high that most could not see it. The Christ consciousness associated with Jesus was described as one level down from God by Carol Lynn Vengroff. But at a more personable level, when Charmian Redwood encountered Jesus and said “No, no, I am not one of yours”, he replied “No, but I am one of yours”.

The encountering of Jesus in NDEs does not appear to be a religious artefact of pre-existing Christian faith as he is encountered by people who were atheists or agnostics at the time of their NDE. In addition, Jesus appears to focus on the need to love others in his messages during NDEs rather than emphasising Christian theology on sacrificial atonement.

At the same time, where Jesus is described in Christian terms by those who had Christian beliefs at the time of their NDE and in non-Christian terms by others. This is to be expected to a certain extent as the person having the NDE links the true figure of Jesus they are experiencing to their faith or understanding about him. Either way, when combining all the different encounters with Jesus into a single view we should try and encounter Jesus on his own terms and see what does and doesn’t match our pre-existing expectations – whether religious or agnostic.