Jesus came to me in a dream

Was it a vision? Was it a dream? I don't know and it may not matter. When I told
some friends that Jesus spoke to me and what He told was addressed to more people
than just me, I did not pretend to be a messenger and did not say that my words had
the authority of a revelation. Nevertheless, I think it relevant to report the dreamconversation I had with Him. It answered questions and reduced my confusion.
He had no distinguishable sign, no cross, no lesion, no white robe indicating that
He was Jesus. And still I knew who He was and He knew that I knew
"Jesus", I asked, "why me"
"My friend", He said, "you do love me."
"I do love you", I said, "but in my own way."
"That is what brings me to you", he replied,
'your own way'."
"In my own way", I said hesitantly, "Your birth is not miraculous. In my own way
You did not come back to life three days after dying. In my own way we are all the
sons of God. In my own way Confucius and Buddha may have also heard a divine call."
Jesus did not seem offended or disturbed. "You have your convictions and your
doubts", he said. "Nobody is expected to know the whole truth. Whether your
convictions are right or wrong is not what matters, as long as they allow me to be the
Saviour."
He stopped and then added sadly: "While calling me the Saviour, so many
Christians make of me its opposite!"
I raised my eyes and looked straight into His. The intensity of His pains was such
that I turned my face away not to witness more sufferings than I can bear to see.
"You are still carrying a cross", I said.
"I am being daily crucified by those who profess to love me", he said.
"I do love You", I said in a trembling voice, "and it hurts me to think that I may
cause you pains."
"Then", He said, "go on loving Me in your own way. I can then be the Saviour."

"I am afraid I fail to understand", I said in a puzzled voice. "Why do You come to
me who, of all men, worries so little about salvation?"
"Do you love your neighbour as you love yourself?" He asked.
"Yes I do", I replied with conviction.
"Then you do care for your salvation because your neighbour IS your salvation",
said He in a tone resonating with love.
I remained silent for a moment while contemplating His last saying: "Your
neighbour IS your salvation!"
"I confess", I then said, "that I never considered a neighbour to be my salvation.
I feel love for all my fellow-men and I hope I will remain loving them as long as I live.
I love you too as a fellow-man and I was often told that, unless I love you as the only
son of God, and accept You as the master of my heart, I would be damned."
"This is not part of My teaching", he said. "Remember My sermon on the Mount,
my friend. I there blessed the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who
hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart and the
peacemakers. Each one of them was blessed by me. By blessing them I was saving
them. I did not ask in return to believe in God and in Me. I abstained to bless those
who believe in me and, instead, I said that not all who are calling me 'My
Lord' would be saved." He then reminded me that He also had said: "If you forgive
their trespasses, your Heavenly Father also will forgive you." He then added:
"Here too, I opened a door for salvation for people who may or may not believe in
Me." He then added: "Remember my saying:
Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they are doing.
"How can they be forgiven if they are not saved?"
"I am confused", I said, "I know you explained more than once that there is no
salvation except through Loving You and following You."
He looked at me and then said reproachfully: "Did I not tell to the rich young man
what he has to do to have eternal life? Did I not detail for him what commandments
he should keep: not to kill, not to commit adultery, not to steal, not to bear false
witness, honour your father and mother and love your neighbour as yourself? And
when he asked what else is lacking, did I not say that he could be perfect by giving all
he possess to the poor?"
"Give thought to it, my friend. Here is a young man who asks the way to eternal

life, and not one of my advices to him includes the love of God or of Me or the belief
in my being the Son of God. Then I conceded to him that he can reach perfection by
giving all his belonging to the poor."
"Jesus", I said, "anyone else would have talked in this way, and he would be
considered sacrilegious. How is it possible to put anything above the love of God?"
"My friend", said Jesus with a smile, "that is the great mystery; but if you open
your eyes and your ears you will understand it."
"Consider the answer I gave to the lawyer who asked what is the great
commandment of the law. His request was for a single commandment, but my answer
indicated two commandments. Two commandments for a single one because the two
commandments, as I said it then, in reality are one. To make it clearer I added that
THE SECOND IS LIKE IT. I therefore equated the love of God with the love of the
neighbour. The two commandments are one because God, in His great love, is willing to
recognize in the love of man for his neighbour, a form of love for God. That is no new
saying of mine. It has all been reported by Matthew."
"Jesus", I said, "I do respect and love You so very much. Please, tell me: are You
the Son of God?"
He looked at me once more and smiled for a longer time than before.
"My friend", He then said, "don't look for signs. Your belief can't affect what I
am, and can't change the purity of your heart."
I still had a question on my mind. "Jesus", I asked, "can you, please, tell me more
about You as the Saviour?
He answered in a slightly more passionate voice:
"Paul has explained to all of you that before my coming, people would be judged by
the natural law inscribed in their heart. They were saved if they obeyed it. How then
can I be the Saviour if salvation is made more difficult after My coming? Can I agree
that so many people, who today follow the good nature of their heart, should be
damned because they do not believe in me? They would have been saved, if only I
would not have come to preach 'the good news'!
"Yes my friend, to be saved you have to follow me, but there is nothing more in
following me than loving your neighbour as yourself. I did say it to the rich young man.
"The good news is that, instead of having to decipher the good nature inscribed

on every heart, it is possible to have eternal life just by following me, that is to say,
by loving your neighbour as yourself. The love of your neighbour IS your salvation."
As He was about to leave I asked him: "What should I tell my neighbours?"
"Tell them", He said, "that they have the choice: either they consider Me to have
made salvation more difficult for many, and then, whatever they call me, I am not the
Saviour in their inner beliefs, or they stop closing doors in my name, doors I intended
to remain open. They should realize that to follow me is, in essence, to love your
neighbour."
That was the end of my vision. I woke up shaken, and wondering.
It was the eve of Christmas. I had to do some shopping and decided to check with
my neighbour. She was busy with her young children and I could spare her a trip to
the market. She felt very relieved by my offer. Yes she needed my help to bring a
medicine for her youngest son:
"Neighbour", she said to me, "you are my saviour". By now, I should have known.
-Clement Leibovitz