“He that hath an ear, let him hear what the spirit saith unto the churches.” (Revelation 3:13)
Baha’u’llah wrote many letters and tablets to the Christians of the Western world. Baha’is believe that the Bible prophesied this when it said, “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the spirit saith unto the churches.” (Revelation 3:13). Baha’u’llah wrote a Tablet to the Christians, which He titled, The Most Holy Tablet. In it, He opened with the question, “Say, O followers of the Son! (Jesus) Have ye shut out yourselves from Me by reason of My name.” One interpretation of this is that Baha’u’llah is asking if prejudice has hindered Christians from even investigating this new religion.
Baha’u’llah then, in this same Tablet, asks Christians to examine their very own Faith. He writes, “Consider those who rejected the Spirit (Jesus) when He came unto them with manifest dominion. How numerous the Pharisees who had secluded themselves in synagogues in His name, lamenting over their separation from Him, and yet when the portals of reunion were flung open and the divine Luminary shone resplendent from the Dayspring of Beauty, they disbelieved in God, the Exalted, the Mighty.” (TB p. 11) Baha’u’llah goes on, “Moreover, call thou to mind the one who sentenced Jesus to death. He was the most learned of His age in His own country, whilst he who was only a fisherman believed in Him. Take good heed and be of them that observe the warning.” (TB p. 11) The question here for Christian leaders is, ‘are you able to see through the manmade attachments and accept your Lord who has come in a way you did not expect?’ How many warnings did Christ give? How many times did that Blessed Figure plead with His followers to be watchful, to have an open mind, and to be ready for something they did not expect? Baha’u’llah is saying that this is all happening again, that those who reject Him are the same as those who rejected Jesus, and those who rejected Moses, and those who rejected Muhammad. When will humanity learn to not be attached to figments of their imagination?
In the Tablet of the Christians, Baha’u’llah further appeals to the people of Christianity when He writes, “He Who is the Spirit verily standeth before them….Will ye bar the doors of your houses in My face?” (Baha’u’llah, TB p. 11) As is written, “Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching.” (Luke 12:37).
The Bible warns Jesus’ followers that they do not know when the Son of Man will return, “Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.” (Luke 12:40). The Bible also warns His followers not to treat the Return of the Holy Spirit the way people treated Jesus, “He verily, hath again come down from Heaven, even as He came down from it the first time. Beware lest ye dispute that which He proclaimeth, even as the people before you disputed His utterances.”(Baha’u’llah, TB p. 11) For Baha’is, these passages were not alluding to Christians standing by their windows looking up into the night sky. Rather, they warned Christians not to be attached to the expectations they, or their leaders have set for the Return of their Lord.
In this Tablet, Baha’u’llah lays it all out and proclaims that what they have been waiting for has at last come. “Say Lo! The Father is come, and that which ye were promised in the Kingdom is fulfilled!” (Baha’u’llah, TB p. 11) He explains that what Jesus promised, as that which the earlier followers could not bear, had at last been made manifest where He said, “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit, when he, the spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you unto all truth.” (John 16:13). And so, Baha’u’llah wrote, “This is the Word which the Son concealed, when to those around Him He said: ‘Ye cannot bear it now.” And He wrote, “Verily, He Who is the Spirit of Truth is come to guide you unto all truth.” (TB p. 11)
Baha’u’llah goes on to tell Christendom that the prophesies have been fulfilled. He wrote, “The Hour which We had concealed from the knowledge of the peoples of the earth and of the favored angels hath come to pass. Say, verily, He hath testified of Me, and I do testify of Him.” (TB p. 11). As the Bible says, “But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.” (Mark 13:32-33)
Again in this Most Holy Tablet to the Christians, Baha’u’llah appeals directly to church priests to accept their Lord, “O Concourse of priests! Leave the bells, and come forth, then, from your churches.” (TB p. 11). How long have these bells tolled out in Christendom, awaiting the time when their Lord would return and the Day of Judgment would be upon them all? For Baha’is, this day has come and gone like a thief in the night and that for which Christians wait now is but a figment of their imagination. Baha’u’llah also appeals to the monks of the world, “O Concourse of monks! If ye choose to follow Me, I will make you heirs of My Kingdom; and if ye transgress against Me, I will, in My long-suffering, endure it patiently, and I, verily, am the Ever-Forgiving, the All-Merciful.” (TB p. 11).
Finally, Baha’u’llah poetically asks the land of Jesus’ birth what the followers of the Christ child would chose to do. “O Bethlehem! The Light hath risen in the orient, and traveled towards the occident, until it reached thee in the evening of its life. Tell Me then: Do the sons recognize the Father, and acknowledge Him, or do they deny Him, even as the people aforetime denied Him (Jesus)?” (TB pg. 9).