“Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.”
My Notes
What Does John 12:31 Mean?
John 12:31 is spoken by Jesus in the final week of His life, immediately after a voice from heaven has confirmed His mission (v. 28-30). With the cross hours away, Jesus makes two declarations that redefine what the crucifixion will accomplish.
"Now is the judgment of this world" — the Greek nyn krisis estin tou kosmou toutou (now is the judgment of this world) announces that the cross is not a defeat. It's a court date. The Greek krisis (judgment, decision, verdict) is a legal term — the world is being tried, and the verdict is about to be rendered. The "now" (nyn) is emphatic: not someday. Now. The hour Jesus has been pointing to throughout John's Gospel has arrived.
"Now shall the prince of this world be cast out" — the Greek ho archōn tou kosmou toutou ekblēthēsetai exō (the ruler of this world will be thrown out). The "prince of this world" is Satan — described as the current operating authority of the world's system (2 Corinthians 4:4, Ephesians 2:2, 1 John 5:19). The Greek ekballō (cast out, thrown out, expelled) is the same word used for Jesus casting out demons. The ruler will be evicted.
The paradox is staggering: at the precise moment when it looks like darkness is winning — when the Son of God is about to be arrested, tortured, and executed — Jesus announces that this is the moment of Satan's defeat. The cross, which appears to be the prince of this world's greatest triumph, is actually his eviction notice. The mechanism of defeat is the crucifixion itself. Satan overplays his hand by engineering the death of the only innocent man — and that death becomes the payment that frees every captive.
Jesus sees the cross not as something happening to Him but as something He's accomplishing through it. The judgment. The expulsion. Everything changes now.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Jesus sees the cross — His coming death — as a judgment and an eviction. How does that reframe a current situation in your life that looks like defeat?
- 2.Satan's greatest apparent triumph (the crucifixion) became his permanent defeat. When has something that seemed like the worst possible outcome in your life turned out to be a turning point?
- 3.Jesus says 'now' — not eventually, not someday. What does the urgency of that word tell you about how God works in the moments that feel most hopeless?
- 4.The 'prince of this world' is cast out through the cross. How does the cross — weakness, suffering, sacrifice — function as a weapon against evil? What does that tell you about how God's power works?
Devotional
The cross looks like a loss. Jesus says it's a verdict.
Hours before His arrest, with the weight of what's coming fully visible, Jesus doesn't say, "Now is the tragedy" or "Now is the suffering." He says: now is the judgment of this world. Now the prince of this world is cast out. The moment that appears to be the darkest hour in human history is, in Jesus's telling, the moment everything flips.
Satan thought the cross was his victory. The Son of God, dead. The mission, failed. The enemy, defeated. But the cross is a divine double-cross. The death that Satan engineered becomes the payment that breaks his authority. The moment he thought he won is the moment he lost everything. He's not just defeated — he's cast out. Evicted. The same word Jesus used for driving out demons.
This reframes how you read every dark moment in your life. The thing that looks like it's winning — the situation that feels like defeat, the loss that seems to prove God isn't paying attention — might be the exact mechanism of the enemy's undoing. Jesus looked at the cross and said "now." Not "eventually." Now. The darkest hour was the turning point.
If you're in something that looks like a loss right now — if the prince of this world seems to be winning in your story — Jesus's perspective from twelve hours before Calvary offers a different reading. The judgment is happening. The eviction is in progress. And the thing that looks like it's destroying you might be the thing God is using to destroy the authority that's been holding you captive.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
And I, if I be lifted up from the earth,.... The death of Christ is here signified by his being "lifted up from the…
Now is the judgment of this world - Greek: “crisis.” This expression, doubtless, has reference to his approaching death,…
Now is the judgment of this world - The judgment spoken of in this place is applied by some to the punishment which was…
Honour is here done to Christ by his Father in a voice from heaven, occasioned by the following part of his discourse,…
Now … now With prophetic certainty Christ speaks of the victory as already won.
the judgment of this world The sentence…
Cross References
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