NOTES for Joh 15:18-21
And again words of consolation are heard... Not only consolation, however, but also the Lord's mercy and love, which every person needs so much. Jesus is already suffering as He encounters alienation and rejection from those around Him. And what should those who follow Him expect? Yes, the growth of the Church, the joy of the Gentiles, and other grace (see, for example, Acts 4:33, 6:7, 13:48), but along with that, rejection as well.
This is said not so that we become fixated on struggle, but so that the virgins have oil in their lamps (see Matt 25:1-13). And in today's passage the Lord says that the situation in which Christians are persecuted is natural, because He Himself is persecuted. The world remains the world, and in it there will always be people who oppose His word.
Yet in these same lines we see amazing support and encouragement. After all, if you are not received, then you share His lot, and that means you are His.