They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me. I have told you this, so that when their time comes you will remember that I warned you about them. I did not tell you this from the beginning because I was with you, John 16:3-4

Jesus is trying to gently tell his Disciples about those who would oppose and persecute them. When all is peaceable and calm, it’s difficult to imagine the things Jesus warns about. It takes a certainly amount of faith to believe that.

Similarly, the warning is for us too. We don’t know if it’s going to happen within the week, the month or even this decade, but a time is coming when we will need to look back at this time as being prophetic. We can’t see the persecution now but it’s on its way. Jesus didn’t tell his disciples to scare them but to warn them and to tell them not to be alarmed when it happens. That message is for us as well.