They will persecute you

If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you

JOHN 15 BIBLE STUDY ◄
John 15:16-19 You Did Not Choose Me, But I Chose You

John 15:20-21 If They Persecuted Me, They Will Persecute You

John 15:22-27 No Sin

JOHN 15:20 20 “Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you also. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.

When did Jesus tell them, "A servant is not greater than his master" (John 15:20)?
Just after washing their feet (see Jesus washes the disciples' feet and A servant is Not greater than his Master).

Why does He remind them of it here?
To pivot to another implication of it: "If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you also" (John 15:20).

Is that what really happened to them?
All of these eleven apostles were persecuted and all but one were eventually killed for their faith, as was Paul, who became an apostle later (see Saul on the Road to Damascus) and listed as highlights of his ministry, "From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned" (2 Corinthians 11:24-25; "stripes" refer to whippings, each of thirty-nine lashes with leather whips), prior to his martyrdom.

Are things any different today?
More Christians have been killed for their faith in the last 100 years than in the previous 1,900 years combined, and the trend is accelerating. Today, Christians continue to face imprisonment, torture and death for their faith in countries like North Korea, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Egypt, Pakistan, Sudan, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Mali, Somalia, China, Indonesia, Myanmar, etc. About eighty percent of all religious persecution in the world is directed at Christians.

Did Jesus exempt any of His followers from His words above, "If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you" (John 15:20)?
No, and self-declared Christians who are not persecuted for their faith by the world disprove either Jesus' declaration or their own self-declaration.

JOHN 15:21 21 “But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me.

Why do those who persecute Christians hate Jesus' name so much?
The persecutors are instigated by Satan, who remains livid over losing his grip on Christians when Jesus paid for our sins on the cross and freed us (see ruler of this world), and by demons, who remain petrified of Jesus.

What about those who claim they serve God by persecuting Christians?
"They do not know" God the Father, "who sent" (John 15:21) Jesus.