James has a brief story, and links to a poem by Eliot. What must the Magi have thought years later?
It reminds me also of Simeon, who was told he would not see death until he had seen the Messiah. Tradition pictures him as old and at the Temple every day, a mirror of Anna the prophetess. But that doesn't have to be so. He could have been thirty and had a regular job, but that day was quietly impelled to go to the Temple. Most importantly, he might not have been expecting a baby at all and smiled at the joke God had played on him that day. Some of the shepherds may have lived long and wondered if this Jesus was the same one they had visited thirty years before.
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And John the Baptist--the events of his birth were talked about all over the area; how many of them remembered that when he began his ministry? The old folks, maybe--but how many "taught these things" to their children?
In terms of Mary's reputation, Elizabeth's and Zechariah's story may have provided some cover for her. "Well, we thought Liz was too old to get pregnant and Zech was struck dumb for months, so lots of weird stuff seems to be happening in that family. Maybe it's true somehow." A nice little added touch by God. Joseph too. "Well, I said I wanted to marry a girl from a pious family. I guess I got what I asked for."
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