John 16:2

John 16:2, in plain English

Jesus warns that they will be expelled from the synagogues, and a time is coming when those who kill you will actually think they are serving God by doing it.

Why it's here

This is one of the most unsettling predictions Jesus makes. The worst persecution often comes from those who believe they are doing the right thing. Religious violence is not new.

Who's speaking

Jesus gives a specific warning about the form persecution will take.

Where it sits in the story

The cruelest irony: the people who persecute you will believe they are doing God a favor. They will kill in God's name while fighting against God's people. It happened to the apostles, and it has happened throughout history.

The scholarly reading

Jesus predicts synagogue expulsion (aposynagōgous) and even martyrdom motivated by misguided religious zeal. Those who kill the disciples will believe they are offering 'service to God' (latreian prospherein tō theō).

Language and setting

The term aposynagōgos appears only in John (9:22, 12:42, 16:2) and likely reflects the experience of Johannine Christians expelled from Jewish worship. The phrase 'service to God' uses sacrificial/liturgical language (latreia), making persecution a perverted form of worship.

Voice

Jesus gives a specific, chilling prediction about the nature of coming persecution.

Significance

Jesus paints a disturbing picture: the disciples will face not just social rejection but religious violence from those who believe they are serving God. The irony is devastating: the persecutors will think they are worshiping God by killing God's followers.

1“I have told you these things so that you will not fall away.

2They will put you out of the synagogues. In fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God.

3They will do these things because they have not known the Father or Me.

4But I have told you these things so that when their hour comes, you will remember that I told you about them. I did not tell you these things from the beginning, because I was with you.

Read all of John 16 — Jesus warns of persecution and promises the Spirit of truth. A woman in labor forgets her anguish when the child arrives — and so will they.