We can only hope that the fat lady makes the right decision

Dear Editor,
Allow me to tell you a parable from Matthew 13:59, “And he spoke another parable before them, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is like unto a woman who, after buying much from the market place, cannot enter through the door of her house’” (NIV).
In my exegesis of this parable, I have observed quite a few things. Firstly, our parabolic friend faces a crisis in her life. She comes home after buying the week’s groceries at the local market and is unable to open the door to enter her house to put her bundles down. For if she reaches for the door handle, she will drop and ruin some of her packages, but if she continues to cling to them, she will never enter into her house. Her predicament is a positive case of Catch-22, that no matter what choice she makes, she will lose something. The question is, what is she willing to lose?
In my second observation, I noticed that the New International Version mistranslated the Greek text of the New Testament in this instance. The Greek word pióngun? is a compound one, literally meaning “fat (pión) woman (gun?)”. Our parabolic friend, then, is obese. Perhaps she is obese from her gluttony, her over-indulgence and over-consumption of other people’s food, wealth, and political influences.
So, there she stands sweating, frustrated, and thinking from time to time of a constructive approach to her predicament but of little action, lest it cause her tremendous pain to act. She finds herself facing two alternatives: (1) either relieve herself of her baggage or (2) keep holding on to them and remain locked outside.
Editor, like many parables in Matthew 13, this one needs an interpretation. So here is my interpretation of the parable of the fat lady in Matthew 13:59. The fat lady represents the church and Christianity in Guyana. She has grown “rich, and [has] become wealthy, and [has] need of nothing” (Rev 3:17). The door may be likened unto the way into the kingdom of heaven, with the door handle being the mission of the gospel.
The parable’s intended meaning is quite self-evident. The woman seeks to enter the kingdom of heaven through the door. But while she stands on the brink of the ultimate fulfilment of her mission, she finds herself trapped outside by baggage. What are they? They are her political biases. She wants to accomplish her Christ-centred mission in Guyana while at the same time bow to political masters.
Unfortunately, this does not tempt the woman to lay down her baggage, because as time passes, she gains her self-identity through participation in the arena of Guyana’s politics. Is it any wonder, then, that major denominations in Guyana are yet to issue public statements on the present political situation? Is it any wonder that denominational leaders and administrators of these churches are afraid to voice their disapproval of their members’ allegiance to a political party? Or of their wrongdoing during the tabulation process? Or of their attempt to rig a free and fair election? The silence is deafening! If silence doesn’t speak of approval, then what does?
Editor, we can only hope that the fat lady makes the right decision, drops her baggage, and focuses on her true calling and mission.

Sincerely,
Jonathan Edwards