Passage
If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have had sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.
John 15:22 (WEB)
Nearby Context
John 15:20 Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his lord.’John 13:16 If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.
John 15:21 But all these things will they do to you for my name’s sake, because they don’t know him who sent me.
John 15:22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have had 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 hadn’t done among them the works which no one else did, they wouldn’t have had sin. But now have they seen and also hated both me and my Father.
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 will they 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.