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)
