Praise to Bishop Diodorus

Homily “Praise to Bishop Diodorus” (4 chapters) delivered by St. John Chrysostom in Antioch, probably in 392 in honor of the teacher St. John - Diodorus, bishop. Tarsus, who visited his hometown and was planning to deliver a sermon after the saint. St. John recalls his teacher’s recent sermon. He says that he does not deserve praise in his address, and he himself praises the bishop. Diodorus: “Therefore, since my father also placed on me the crown befitting him, which turned out to be larger than my head and which he did not dare to place on himself, now I, having taken it off myself, will place it back on my father’s head, to which it belongs.” *The title of the work in Greek is Εἰς Ϫιόδωρον ἐπίσκοπον. *The title of the work in Latin is Laus Diodori episcopi. 1. Recently this wise and valiant teacher, leaving his bodily illness and ascending to this seat, spoke about me at the beginning of his conversation and called me John the Baptist, and the voice of the church, and the rod of Moses, and besides many other names. He then praised me, and you exclaimed; I, sitting at a distance, sighed bitterly. He praised, expressing his love for his children; you exclaimed, expressing your brotherly love, and I sighed, weighed down by the burden of those praises. After all, the greatness of praise usually gnaws at the conscience no less than sins; like one who, not recognizing anything good in himself, but hearing others attribute to him many and great good deeds, thinks about the present rumor and the future day when everything will be revealed and open and when the Judge will judge not according to the opinions of many, but according to the very truth of deeds, because He “will not judge by the sight of His eyes,” says the prophet, “and will not decide matters by the hearing of His ears” (Is. 11:3 ); - So I, imagining all this, grieve at the praise and good opinion of many, seeing the great difference between it and the future verdict. Nowadays we hide behind the opinions of many, as if with some kind of masks, and on the day when these masks are removed, we, standing before the throne of the Judge with our heads naked, will not be able to receive any benefit from local rumors for the verdict there, but for this very reason we will be punished even more, because, having received a lot of praise and a lot of approval from many, we have not become the best from this. 2. So, thinking about all this, I sighed bitterly. That is why now I hastily stood up in order to remove such rumors from you, who heard those praises. After all, the crown, when it is larger than the head of the person being crowned, does not touch the churches and does not rest on the head, but, being too wide in size, descends through the eyes to the neck and leaves the head uncrowned. I experienced the same thing, since the crown of praise turned out to be greater than the dignity of my head; and yet, despite this, my father, out of his characteristic love, did not refrain in any way from placing it on me. Kings often do this: taking a diadem that belongs to them, they place it on the heads of their children; then, seeing that the child’s head is smaller than the crown, being satisfied with this imposition, simple and done somehow, they finally take it and place it on themselves. 3. Therefore, since my father also placed on me a crown befitting him, which turned out to be larger than my head and which he did not dare to place on himself, now I, having taken it off from myself, will place it back on my father’s head, to which it belongs. For although the name of John is mine, wisdom is his; Although I received this name, he possesses wisdom. Therefore, it would be more fair for him to bear this very name than for me, because the same name usually depends not on the similarity of names, but on the similarity of deeds, even if the names are different. And Scripture speaks differently about this than those versed in worldly philosophy. Those do not consider people to have the same name if they do not find in them, along with properties, similarities in names; But Scripture is not so, but when it sees great similarity in philosophy, then, even if the names belonging to people of the same way of life were different, it calls them by the same name. We don’t need to look far for evidence of this, but we can point to this very John, the son of Zechariah. When the disciples asked (Jesus Christ) if Elijah would come again, He answered: “And if you want to accept, he is Elijah who must come” (Matthew 11:14). He was called John, but since he had the morals of Elijah, he received the same name as him; since he possessed the spirit of Elijah, he received the name Elijah. Both of them lived in desert places; one dressed in mantle, and the other in hair clothing; and their meal was equally meager and simple; one of them was the minister of the first coming (of Christ), and the other will be the minister of the future. Therefore, since their way of life, and clothing, and residence, and service were the same and everything was similar among them, Christ gave both one name, expressing that the one who bears a different name can be the same name as the one whom he imitates in the way of life. 4. So, if this is the undoubted rule and this is the definition of the same name in the Divine Scripture, then we will show that our wise father imitates the way of life of John, so that you know that it would be more fair to attribute this name to him. He had no table, no bed, no home on earth; and this one never had anything like that. Witnesses are you, how he spent all his time demonstrating the apostolic life, not having any property, but receiving food from others, and himself constantly being “in prayer and the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:4). He preached beyond the river, staying in the deserts; and this one once led the whole city across the river and taught sound doctrine. He lived in prison, and his head was cut off for zeal for the law; and this one was often removed from the fatherland for zeal for the faith, and his head was often cut off for the same reason, if not in fact, then in intention. The enemies of truth, unable to bear the power of his tongue, plotted countless intrigues on all sides, but the Lord saved him from all of them. Let us listen to this language, through which he was exposed to danger and saved. It would not be wrong for anyone to say about him what Moses said about the Promised Land. What did he say about her? “A land flowing with milk and honey” (Ex. 3:8). The same can be said about his language; it is a tongue flowing with milk and honey. So, in order for us to both enjoy this milk and be satisfied with this honey, let us stop our speech here and listen to his lyres and trumpets. When I imagine the pleasantness of his words, I call his voice a lyre; and when I imagine the power of thoughts, then - with some kind of war trumpet, such as the Jews had when they destroyed the walls of Jericho. Just as then the sound of trumpets, striking stones stronger than fire, destroyed and destroyed everything, so now his voice, no less than those trumpets, striking the fortifications of heretics, “overthrows ideas and every exaltation that rises up against the knowledge of God” (2 Cor. 10:4-5). But in order for you to learn this not from ours, but from his, let us stop our speech, giving glory to the Father, who gives such teachers; for to Him be glory forever and ever. Amen. Here, of course, is Diodorus, Bishop of Tarsus, who was once the teacher of St. John Chrysostom, and the very word in praise of him was spoken by the saint, it is believed, in the year 382 after the Nativity of Christ. You might be interested in: