John 15:20
Remember the word that I said to you, 'Servants are not greater than their master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also — Jesus reminds the disciples of the principle established earlier: disciples are not above their teacher. Persecution is not a betrayal of the promise but an confirmation of it; to be persecuted is to be truly following Jesus. Yet the promise is double-edged: as the world persecuted Jesus, some will also hear and keep his word, and thus some will hear and keep the disciples' word. The harvest comes through faithful witness even when the response is hostility.