Kudzu vines grow in a shape some are calling the Kudzu Jesus near the downtown skyline in Raleigh, N.C. From the back, the vines resemble the 100-foot statue called Christ the Redeemer that overlooks Rio de Janeiro.

RALEIGH, N.C. In the past few months, the ghostly image of Jesus has appeared on a half-eaten Kit Kat bar, a slice of cheese toast and the seat of a Las Vegas toilet.

But those miraculous manifestations were all about the size of a drivers license photo, and even when the evening newscast zoomed in tight, you had to squint to see the saviors beard.

In his latest showing, just off Raleighs Boylan Avenue Bridge, the Prince of Peace shows up 30 feet tall and green: the Kudzu Jesus, Raleighs vegetative relic.

He snakes up a utility pole, forming a majestic trunk and a head seemingly bowed in prayer or agony. A pair of arms appears to spread along the wires in each direction, inviting the world into a leafy embrace.

From the rear, he looks like Christ the Redeemer, the 100-foot statue overlooking Rio de Janeiro from a pointed mountaintop.

Trains pass just below Raleighs Jesus vine, and homeless men pay silent tribute on their way to mattresses laid out beneath the bridge.

It does look like him, said Pete Surrette, 50, walking past with ketchup-stained pants and a Ziploc bag full of toiletries. Hes got the outstretched arms and everything.

John Morris was standing on the bridge a few weeks ago, taking pictures of passing trains, when a few patrons of Boylan Bridge Brewpub wandered over and asked if he was snapping shots of the vine Christ. Before long, he posted an image on his Web site, www.goodnight raleigh.com, showing Jesus bathed in a golden light, lit by the Raleigh skyline.

I was immediately interested, as the topic of pareidolia was the subject of a research paper and presentation I made for a class at State, he wrote, referring to the phenomenon of finding meaning in things vague or random. But aside from a few jests over a pint at the brewpub, the kudzu so far has drawn no followers.

As he muses on its resemblance to the Lamb of God, Surrette mentions that he spent nine years behind bars for attacking a man with a garden rake. If the Kudzu Jesus turned around, he could see the window of the cell in Central Prison where Surrette served his sentence.

But the mysterious bush keeps its gaze fixed straight ahead, vine-made eyes on the path where Surrette is strolling away, offering shelter from a hard world.