Luke 1-2: Is it possible?

We tend to think of Jesus' birth as a solitary event:  Mary and Joseph, alone, in a stable, the babe in a manger.  Oh, there were shepherds and a star who came to see the child, but his birth was a solitary event.

It was not.  Christ's birth was surrounded by people and the miraculous.  Zechariah, the old priest, suddenly is mute and everyone wonders what happened.  After year of a barren marriage, his wife, Elizabeth becomes pregnant.  How the neighbors must have talked.  And her relative, the young girl Mary, she becomes pregnant as well, and is not even married.  Joseph, her betrothed, swears it isn't his, but he stays with her anyway. Simeon, the old man, waiting for the consolation of Israel, has his wish fulfilled and Anna, who at eighty-four had been constant in the temple since her husband died after only seven years of marriage realized that her prayers for the redemption of Jerusalem had been answered.

Is it possible that the same hand of God is moving among us right now, that there are people hearing from angels and becoming mute or having their mouths opened?  Are there faithful men waiting for the Messiah and old women praying and fasting for the redemption of the world?  Just as in Jesus' day, they were looking for the coming of the Messiah, but his coming turned out to be different from what they had imagined.  Are the events falling into place now that will lead up to the Messiah's return?  Will it be different than all of our predictions and imaginations?  Is it possible ?

2010 Post - Luke 1-2:  The Light Has Come