Hi, friends. I'm Annie F. Downs. Let's read the Gospels. The Gospels are the first four books of the New Testament in a Bible, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

These are the stories of Jesus Christ's life on earth, the friendships, the parables, the sacrifices, the meals, the miracles.

We will read three chapters a day and finish in 30 days. As you know, we've only got one week left this month, so every month we're going to read all four books.

So go ahead and subscribe today if you haven't yet and join us as we read the Gospels together. We are working our way to the end of the book of Matthew just a couple more days.

So today I'll read three chapters to you. You can listen or read along in your own Bible, and then I'll pray, and that's it.

So today is January 23rd, day 23, and I'll be reading Matthew, chapters 22 through 24, and the translation I'm reading from this month is NIV84.

Matthew, chapter 22, the parable of the wedding banquet. Jesus spoke to them again and parables saying the kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son.

He sent his servants to those who've been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.

Then he sent some more servants and said, tell those who've been invited that I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and fat and cattle have been butchered and everything is ready come to the wedding banquet.

But they paid no attention and went off one to his field, another to his business. The rest seized his servants mistreated them and killed them.

The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. Then he said to his servants, the wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come.

Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find. So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes.

Friend, he asked, how did you get in here without wedding clothes? The man was speechless. Then the king told the attendants, tie him hand in foot and throw him outside into the darkness where they will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

For many are invited, but few are chosen, paying taxes to Caesar.

Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians.

Teacher, they said, we know you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.

You aren't swayed by men because you pay no attention to who they are. Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?

But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, you hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? Show me the coin used for paying the tax.

They brought him a denarius and he asked them, whose portrait is this and whose inscription? Caesar's, they replied.

Then he said to them, give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God, what is God's? When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.

Marriage at the resurrection. That same day, the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question.

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