John 15:22 (YLT)

Passage

if I had not come and spoken to them, they were not having sin; but now pretext they have not for their sin.

Nearby Context

John 15:20 `Remember the word that I said to you, A servant is not greater than his lord; if me they did persecute, you also they will persecute; if my word they did keep, yours also they will keep;

John 15:21 but all these things will they do to you, because of my name, because they have not known Him who sent me;

John 15:22 if I had not come and spoken to them, they were not having sin; but now pretext they have not for their sin.

John 15:23 `He who is hating me, doth hate also my Father;

John 15:24 if I did not do among them the works that no other hath done, they were not having sin, and now they have both seen and hated both me and my Father;

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "come", "spoken", "having", and "pretext". 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 is hating me doth hate...", 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.