Extra, Extra Seven: "BOOKS OF THE TIMES; Pathology and Pathos", John 20:1-18

The Ordinary Times

In 1986 the New York Times did a book review of an author whose persona would later double as a character in a popular film. You may have first encountered neurologist Oliver Sacks played by Robin Williams in the movie “Awakenings”, but in real life he wrote the book that it was based on and also a curiously titled work entitled “The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat.” That later work is the one that the newspaper reviewed and serves as one of the narratives in the case studies of the British doctor.

Dr. Sacks tells the true life story of one of his patents that had visual agnosia a condition of impairment in recognition of visually presented objects. It is not due to damage to the eyes but to the brain. They can correctly “see” things but cannot correctly recognize them without informational context. Wikipedia describes it as, “If a person correctly perceives the forms and has knowledge of the objects but cannot identify the objects.” So, in short, yes, a man once confused his spouse for an object that we wear on our heads. You could go so far to say that he objectified his wife… rimshot please?

If you happened to attend church this Sunday, then you may have encountered a similar episode from the Easter reading. In John 20:1-18 Jesus’ follower Mary Magdalene comes to his tomb and encounters the Risen Christ but mistakes him for the gardener. It’s as if she experiences a kind of visual agnosia, because without the proper context she cannot recognize him. After the crucifixion, she was used to seeing Jesus dead but after the resurrection, he is yet alive. But that’s not the only religious parallel to Dr. Sacks book that I want to discuss here.

There also seems to be a reversal of “The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat” between Christ and his wife. Now despite whatever you may have read on the Da Vinci Code, history proves that Mary Magdalene was not Jesus’ wife. But the Bible tells us who is… it’s you… and me… and every Believer who has been baptized into faith in him. Scripture refers to the Church as “the Bride of Christ.” But the more I look at it, it seems like Jesus’ wife is experiencing a kind of visual agnosia. Many people don’t recognize who Jesus is. Worse than that, we can sometimes objectify him. Not as a hat per se, but as an American, a warmonger, a libertine, a Capitalist, a persecutor, an escapist, a motivational speaker or any other role that we have projected upon him… almost as if he never spoke about who he understood himself as. And trust me, he did.

So, when The Ordinary Times podcast started, I researched and reported through the stories where Jesus revealed how he is to be recognized. Then when the actual season of Ordinary Time took a break, we changed the format to interviewing people from different parts of the body of Christ about their stories. And at the end I asked them, “Who is Jesus?” This morning, we’ll review their answers.