Stuff that looks like Jesus

Some years ago, someone called the newsroom saying Jesus was in their tree.

Not literally, but the person could see an image of Jesus in a tree on their property.

If you Google “stuff that looks like Jesus,” all kinds of images pop up — Jesus in a sour cream and onion potato chip and on a banana peel, a Jesus Cheeto, fishstick Jesus, breakfast taco Jesus.

In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a piece of plaster with a water stain that looked like Jesus reportedly sold on eBay for $1,999.99 and a pierogi with an image of Jesus is said to have sold for $1,775.

In a 2014 Christianity Today (CT) article, “Why Everything Looks Like Jesus,” researchers said people seeing Jesus in inanimate objects is a real thing. It’s called pareidolia, the phenomenon of seeing facial images in unexpected places.

Think of looking at clouds and seeing images of dragons or bears or manatees — or the face of Jesus.

In the CT article, neuroscientist Joel Voss said seeing and seeking faces in stuff is instinctive from birth, that babies look for faces immediately.

Voss said the image of Jesus is commonly seen in places like wood grain or marble patterns, or breakfast tacos and water stains, because the face of Jesus has been a universal subject of art throughout history, and our brains recognize universal images.

We don’t know what Jesus really looked like, but we know what artists have imagined him to look like.

But maybe there’s more to it than just a brain quirk. Maybe we see Jesus because we were created to seek him, and to find him.

Jesus told a crowd of people, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7).

Some Greeks came to Jerusalem and told Philip, a follower of Jesus: “We want to see Jesus” (John 12:21).

Back in the early 1980s, one of my favorite Christian song writers wrote and sang the song, “Come and See,” about the early disciples telling people they had seen Jesus, inviting them to come and see for themselves.

I love the second verse: “Come and see this Jesus of Nazareth…Come and see the One we have heard of all our lives.”

They had heard, but then they SAW.

The psalm writer said to God, “When You said, ‘Seek My face,’ my heart said to You, ‘Your face, Lord, I will seek’ ” (Psalm 27:8).

Whoever looks for Jesus, whenever someone seeks him with all their heart, whoever knocks and calls on his name, that person will find him.

If you look for Jesus, he opens your eyes and enables you to see him, truly see him, everywhere.

Not so much as a face on a potato chip, but as your Creator and friend, redeeming your life, fighting your battles, directing your steps, delivering you from evil, answering your prayers, calming your restless heart with his peace.

What’s amazing, the more you see Jesus at work in your life, changing you, making you more giving and forgiving, making you more like him, others will begin to see Jesus in YOU.

Nancy Kennedy can be reached at 352-564-2927 or by email at nkennedy@chronicleonline.com.