Passage
If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.
John 15:22 (LSB)
Nearby Context
John 15:20 Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also.
John 15:21 But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me.
John 15:22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.
John 15:23 He who hates Me hates My Father also.
John 15:24 If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well.
Study Lenses
The verse centers on "come", "spoken", and "excuse". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "come" and "spoken", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 21's "But all these things they will do..." into verse 23's "He who hates Me hates My Father...", so "come" and "spoken" belong inside that flow. In John context, the local focus is the identity of Jesus, new birth, eternal life, and belief and unbelief.
A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "come" and "spoken" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.