Epiphany Wonderings

This season of the year I wonder about several things. First, how long did Jesus’s folks keep him in a smelly stable with dirty hay and cow dung before a room opened up in the inn? How old was He when He was moved to a house where the wise men from the East came to worship him and bring gifts [see Mt. 2:1]. Note that their number is never mentioned despite the popular carol? Whose house was it? Where? [Incidentally, that’s where the star shone guiding the wise men, NOT in the stable—despite the drawing on the front of this issue of Pages!]. Did his earthly parents ever get married [Jesus’s four brothers are named, along with recognition of at least two sisters, in MT 13:55]. When did they suspect that He was, at the very least, a “gifted” child, probably a savant? For that matter, when did He suspect that He was radically different—did He even know it when as a twelve-year-old He was missing from the bosom of his parents for THREE WHOLE DAYS? [see Lk 2:42 ff]. Incidentally, where were his folks during that time when they couldn’t find him in the caravan—weren’t they panicked? Were they partying? Why did they wait so long before turning back to find him peacefully holding two-way conversations with the elders of the temple?
One would think that, for the sake of accuracy, the various
chroniclers of the life of the Messiah might want to record such
important details. But we’re left to wonder, as we wonder—in this wondrous season—about so many wondrously improbable happenings. Not the least of these, of course, is the improbability of the King of the universe appearing among us as a helpless infant!