Who do you say I am?

It is one of the greatest architectural marvels in human history, the only man-made object that can be seen from outer space, the Great Wall of China! The Chinese constructed the 2,250-mile wall 250 years before Christ to protect their land from Turkish and Mongol nomads who swept down from the north. Twenty-five feet tall, the wall of brick and earth was too high to climb over, too thick to break down, too long to go around. It seemed to be the perfect defense system.
Actually, it was not totally perfect! During the first hundred years of the wall’s existence, China was invaded three times! Oh, the wall worked fine. Not once did the barbaric hordes climb over, break down or go around the wall. The barbarians, instead, seized upon the weakness in human nature. They simply bribed a gatekeeper and then marched right through the wall’s gates! The fatal flaw in the Chinese defense system was not the brick and mortar of the wall, but the dishonesty and deceit of the wall’s gatekeeper!
The question Jesus poses to his followers – and to us – in this weekend’s Gospel, - “Who do you say I am?” – goes to the very heart of who we are, what we believe and value, and how we see ourselves in relationship to others and the world! We stand on the gate facing the hordes, having to decide whether we believe enough in Jesus and in his Gospel of selfless love! We stand on the gate, having to decide whether we seek Jesus first, or our own selfish interests and wellbeing! This weekend’s Gospel asks us exactly what we mean when we say we are “Christian,” when we pray that “we believe in Jesus Christ,” that we claim to have been baptized into his death and resurrection. Our love for family and friends, our dedication to the cause of what is right and just, our taking the first step toward reconciliation and forgiveness, our most simple acts of kindness and generosity, all declare most definitively and most courageously our true belief in the Gospel of Jesus as our Messiah and Redeemer! Think about it!!