Do you ever wonder how things got “back to normal” in the minds of a generation that had heard the news of a miraculous star, the vision of the shepherds, the mysterious magi from the east, and rumors of a birth that resulted in Herod’s eventual murderous actions in Bethlehem? (Matt 2:16-18)
Did anyone wonder if Herod had eliminated his competition?
Admittedly, the child Messiah was taken into hiding. Time went on without follow-up miracles. God went silent. Looking back, we can see that his plan for our rescue wouldn’t have worked if everyone lived in the ongoing awareness that God was now living among us.
But 30 years later, when John the baptizer began to announce the coming of the Lord, was there anyone who remembered the unusual circumstances of his own birth? (Luke 1:7) Could some of the lingering memories explain why some thought he might be the Messiah? (Luke 1:13) (Matt 16:13-14)
Or were all of the rumors that swirled around Mary and Elizabeth’s babies lost in the darkness of Herod’s jealousies, the arrogance of religious leaders, and the shadow of Rome? (Matt 2:1-3)
Could any of these questions have anything to do with the way we too can live without the daily expectation that something supernatural could still happen today– as an expected and needed result of “Christ in us”? (Col 1:26-27)