Yohanes 15:22

15:22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. ¹  But they no longer have any excuse for their sin.

Yohanes 19:4

19:4 Again Pilate went out and said to the Jewish leaders, ²  “Look, I am bringing him out to you, so that you may know that I find no reason for an accusation ³  against him.”

[15:22]  ¹ tn Grk “they would not have sin” (an idiom).

[15:22]  sn Jesus now describes the guilt of the world. He came to these people with both words (15:22) and sign-miracles (15:24), yet they remained obstinate in their unbelief, and this sin of unbelief was without excuse. Jesus was not saying that if he had not come and spoken to these people they would be sinless; rather he was saying that if he had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of the sin of rejecting him and the Father he came to reveal. Rejecting Jesus is the one ultimate sin for which there can be no forgiveness, because the one who has committed this sin has at the same time rejected the only cure that exists. Jesus spoke similarly to the Pharisees in 9:41: “If you were blind, you would have no sin (same phrase as here), but now you say ‘We see’ your sin remains.”

[19:4]  ² tn Grk “to them.” The words “the Jewish leaders” are supplied from John 18:38 for clarity.

[19:4]  ³ tn Or “find no basis for an accusation”; Grk “find no cause.”