John 16:2
They will expel you from the synagogues; in fact, the hour is coming when everyone who kills you will think he is offering worship to God.
You read that right, Jesus just said "when" not "if" they kill you. I don't' know about you but it's verses like this that make me rethink this whole Christ Follower thing! Jesus isn't messing around here. He is straight up telling his followers that they will be killed for their belief in him. And they kept following! Our first reading today is from the Acts of the Apostles and we all know they weren't having an easy time of it while spreading the Gospel message.
But I don't think Jesus is only talking about physical death here, I think he's talking about spiritual death as well. How quickly does our faith fade when things get tough? Worse yet how quickly do we forget our faith when things are going great? Jesus is reminding us that following him was never meant to be easy. Jesus bookended these two verses by saying "I have told you this so that you may not fall away." and "I have told you this so that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you." No matter what life is throwing at you right now, pain or prosperity, remember that Jesus is with you.
