In this presentation, I will first outline Origen's hermeneutical principles and his articulation of the ideal reader of the fourth Gospel, as presented in the preface to his Commentary on John. I will then examine his treatment of two specific Johannine passages, the "cleansing" of the temple in John 2, and the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4. These in order to explore how the Alexandrian dealt with the problems presented to him by John's differences from the Synoptic Gospels, and how he negotiated what he considered to be the limitations of scripture, including John, the most spiritual of Gospels.