At the time of His ascension, Christ had raised up twelve
men and four women. There were to be
sure a few others beside these, but they had not reached the station of
certitude. And among these twelve men,
one became His sworn enemy: Judas
Iscariot, who, notwithstanding his position as the chief of the Apostles, arose
to have Him killed. The most prominent
among the remaining eleven was Peter, and even he failed to stand firm in the
face of trials, since, according to the explicit text of the Gospel, he thrice
denied Christ at the hour of His martyrdom, to the point of entirely recanting
his faith in the last instance. It was
only after the cock crowed that he was reawakened and made contrite and
repentant.
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (From a talk, included in ‘Additional Tablets,
Extracts and Talks’, prepared by the Baha’i World Center; Online Baha’i
Reference Library of the Baha’i World Center)
