John Chrysostom remains one of the early Church’s most beloved pastors and most luminous preachers—so renowned for the clarity and power of his sermons that he came to be remembered as Chrysostomos (“Golden-Mouthed”). Trained in Antioch’s exegetical tradition, he became famous for verse-by-verse preaching that grounded Christian doctrine and ethics directly in the biblical text. After meeting Bishop Meletius of Antioch, he began to withdraw from secular pursuits and give himself to Scripture and spiritual discipline; contemporaries even describe his baptism as a true turning point, an earnest renunciation of the world in order to serve Christ. He learned to read Scripture with close attention and to preach it with a rare ability to press the text into the conscience and the comfort of ordinary people. After years of ascetic discipline and then public ministry, he was unexpectedly called to serve as Archbishop of Constantinople—where his insistence on integrity among the clergy, simplicity of life, and care for the poor won many hearts. Again and again, his preaching drives confidence away from human achievement and back to God’s mercy—insisting that the believer’s standing before God is grounded in grace and received through faith. His preaching also provoked powerful enemies, resulting in his exile more than once. He died far from home, leaving behind a legacy of verse-by-verse homilies that still nourish the Church to this day.