Luke 1:29

‘But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this might be.’

The words of Gabriel ‘greatly troubled’ her. The word is stronger than that used in Luke 1:12. His words clearly signified that something great and wonderful would be expected of her, and possibly her mind flashed back to others who had had angelic visitations, Sara the prospective mother of Isaac who had had to be rebuked because she had not believed (Genesis 18:10-15), and the wife of Manoah (Judges 13:3-5; Judges 13:9), with all, of both joy and sorrow, that had resulted from her experience. Every woman in Israel knew of these great women of the past and what they had undergone. And she did not feel that she was worthy or able to face up to the demands that might be made on her. After all she was merely a village girl in her mid-teens. Desperately worried she sought in her mind for what the angel might be expecting of her. After all there was little that she could do, except be a good mother.