By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
6 unexpected places people found Jesus
Thu5
Some have reportedly found images of Jesus in their food or other mundane objects. - photo by istockphoto.com/claylix

A church. A gravesite. A funeral home. Those are the places you’d expect to find images or statues of Jesus.
But not on your dinner plate.

Some have reportedly found images of Jesus or the Virgin Mary in their food or other mundane objects.
And that’s actually quite normal. A new study published in Cortex found it wasn't unusual to see Jesus or other religious symbols in everyday objects. And it doesn’t matter whether or not people were told they would see an illusory image — about 35 percent of people saw the image anyway.

But what are some of the instances in recent history when people saw Jesus or biblical people in objects?
Here’s a look at six different times people saw a religious image in something mundane and regular:

Walmart receipt
Even something as simple as a receipt can play host to an image of Jesus. Back in 2011, an engaged couple believed they saw Jesus’ face on their receipt. Upon first glance, there was no face. But upon returning home and looking at the receipt, the face appeared, the couple told a local NBC affiliate.

“Then the more you look at it, the more it looked like Jesus, and it was just shocking, breathtaking," said Jacob Simmons, who saw the image, according to a local NBC affiliate.

Toast
The image of Jesus surfaced on toast, too. Linda Lowe, from Lake Bowen in South Carolina, claimed she saw the image of Jesus in her grilled cheese toast, according to online news site Goup State. She didn’t bite the sandwich, instead leaving it for all to see.

"I know there's a lot of people who believe there's some divine reason for it being there," said Lowe to Goup State. "I just don't know, but I could never eat it."

Jesus wasn’t the only one to appear in grilled cheese. In Miami back in 2004, the Virgin Mary was spotted in a grilled cheese sandwich, according to The Associated Press. The sandwich was sold for $28,000, the AP reported.

Hospital wall
In 2003, the Virgin Mary was in national news for appearing on the side of a hospital in Milton, Massachusetts. BBC News reported on the occurrence, saying that more than 25,000 traveled there to get a snapshot of the image. The hospital, despite the attention, didn’t do anything to take down the image, mostly because of the positivity it gave patients and people living in the area, BBC reported.

"Obviously there has been a significant outpouring of sincere religious belief and I want to be sure the hospital doesn't do anything sacrilegious or in any way disrespectful to the Virgin Mary," said the hospital chairman, Richard Ward, according to BBC News.

Cheeto
Yes, Jesus can even appear in a Cheeto. As a local ABC news affiliate reported, a local church leader found a Cheeto cheese curl that reminded him of Jesus. And, fittingly, he named it “Cheesus.”
"I do not think that God makes Cheetos that look like Jesus or creates images of Himself on screen doors. I do know that God reveals Himself to us in a zillion different ways," said Steve Gregg, the leader, to the ABC news station. "Seeing the image of Christ in a Cheeto means that I was able to imagine it. God's creation is full of signs and things that can and do remind us of Him."

Wood
A piece of wood showing what looked like the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus surfaced in Salt Lake City back in 2012,according to FOX 13. When two family members were cutting down wood, they stumbled upon the piece of pine and, after cutting it down, found the religious image, Fox 13 reported.
“When we first saw it, we were like ‘wow,’ ” said Dean Hansen, one of the founders.

Frying pan
Before you get to the grilled cheese, you’re using a frying pan. And that’s where Jesus showed up back in 2010,according to The Telegraph. Toby Elles, a 22-year-old England native, found an image of Jesus in the ashes of the food that he burned after he fell asleep while cooking, The Telegraph reported.

The smoke from the burning food woke him up, according to The Telegraph, saving his life.
"I'm not going to scrub it clean though, just in case I get struck by lightning, it's going to take pride of place on a wall instead,” Elles said. "It's become quite a talking point for people who come round to the house and I have even thought I might get a glass cabinet to put it in. I'm going to keep it for the rest of my life, perhaps it can watch over me."

Email: hscribner@deseretdigital.com
Twitter: @herbscribner