Origen of Alexandria

After fasting forty days and forty nights, He was hungry.

“For the number "forty days" is composed of four groups of ten. This may be akin to the four aspects of physical reality, because the sensible world is formed out of four elements.”

Jesus replied, “A wicked and adulterous generation demands a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.

“That generation was evil, on account of the influence that had come to be in it from the evil one. It was adulterous because it had left her natural husband—the word or law of truth—and had come to be wedded to a lie.”

and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

“And those who attended to the net that was cast into the sea are Jesus Christ, the master of the net, and "the angels who came and ministered to him."”

and said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead! That is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”

“The Jews had different opinions about the resurrection. Some of them were false. The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection of the dead or in the existence of angels.”

You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you: ‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me.

“I have previously quoted some of the words of Isaiah that precede the verse quoted in the Gospel and some of the words that follow the verse quoted in the Gospel.”

These are what defile a man, but eating with unwashed hands does not defile him.”

“These things are what "defiles the person" when they come out from the heart and, after they have gone out from it, go through the mouth.”

Large crowds came to Him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and laid them at His feet, and He healed them.

“Again Jesus went up on the mountain where he sat down. Not only people who were healthy but also those suffering from various disorders went up on the mountain where Jesus was sitting.”

And He instructed the crowd to sit down on the ground.

“Be attentive to the difference between those things that are written in the various places in regard to the loaves. I think that this passage belongs to a different order than the others. Note the differences.”

A wicked and adulterous generation demands a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” Then He left them and went away.

“Now he called them evil because their wicked deeds had made them evil people (evil because of deliberate wickedness) and adulterous because when the Pharisees and Sadducees left their metaphoric spouse, the true word, they committed adultery, with falsehood and the law of sin.Assume there…”

They discussed this among themselves and concluded, “It is because we did not bring any bread.”

“After Jesus said this, the disciples thought to themselves (not aloud but in their hearts), "We did not bring bread."”

How do you not understand that I was not telling you about bread? But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

“Some were distracted by the use of bread and yeast. In order to clarify and enlighten them in a still symbolic way that he was not speaking about literal bread but about yeast as representing teaching, Jesus adds, "How is it that you do not…”

For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

“This may be understood in two ways. First thus; if any lover of this present life spares his life, fearing to die, and supposing that his life is ended with this death; he seeking in this way to save his life, shall lose it, estranging…”

But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him whatever they wished.

“The disciples who went up with Jesus remembered the traditions of the scribes concerning Elijah, that before the advent of Christ, Elijah would come and prepare for him the souls of those who would receive him.”

“If then we shall ever be required to be employed in the healing of those who are suffering any thing of this sort, we shall not adjure them, nor ask them questions, nor even speak, as though the unclean spirit could hear us, but by…”

They will kill Him, and on the third day He will be raised to life.” And the disciples were deeply grieved.

“By this announcement of the Lord the disciples were made very sorrowful, not attending to that He said, And shall rise again the third day, nor considering what He must be to whom the space of three days was enough to destroy death.”

And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away.

“If somebody, in the whole body of the congregations of the church, is industrious and handy for practical action and he changes and his hand causes him to sin, the eye should say to this hand, "I have no need of you."”

So his fellow servant fell down and begged him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you back.’ But he refused.

“Observe the exactness of Scripture; the servant who owed many talents fell down, and worshipped the king; he who owed the hundred denarii falling down, did not worship, but besought his fellow servant, saying, Have patience.”

Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had on you?’

“He seeks to instruct us, that we should be ready to show clemency to those who have done us harm, especially if they offer amends, and plead to have forgiveness.”

Large crowds followed Him, and He healed them there.

“Only, when Jesus had finished these words, having spoken them in Galilee about Capernaum, then "He departed thence, and came into the borders of Judaea," which were different from Galilee.”

But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.

“By this He exhorts those that come late to the heavenly word, to haste to ascend to perfection before many whom they see to have grown old in the faith.”

About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing.

“Or, He did not call upon the labourers of the third hour for a complete task, but left to their own choice, how much they should work.”

About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’ he asked.

“But this, Why stand ye here all the day idle? is not said to such as having begun in the spirit (Gal. 3:3) have been made perfect by the flesh, as inviting them to return again, and to live in the Spirit.”

When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, starting with the last ones hired and moving on to…

“Or; The Lord said to his steward, that is, to one of the Angels who was set over the payment of the labourers; or to one of those many guardians, according to what is written, that The heir as long as he is a child…”

“Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes.

“There is no mention that the disciples either said or did any thing upon hearing of these sufferings that should thus come upon Christ; remembering what the Lord had said to Peter, they were afraid they should have had the like or worse addressed to…”

“What do you want?” He inquired. She answered, “Declare that in Your kingdom one of these two sons of mine may sit at Your right hand, and the other at…

“For if in an earthly kingdom they are thought to be in honour who sit with the king, no wonder if a woman with womanish simplicity or want of experience conceived that she might ask such things, and that the brethren themselves being not perfect…”