Charles Ellicott Commentary John 12:31

"Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out." — John 12:31 (ASV)

Now is the judgment of this world. For the word “judgment,” compare Notes on John 3:17-19 and John 16:11. Here, following the coming of the Greeks (which He interprets as a sign) and the voice from heaven (which was a sign for the multitude), is the thought of the Messianic kingdom. Its first members were then present, and it was intended to include all people. This thought includes:

1. the judgment (condemnatory) of this world;
2. the casting out of the prince of this world;
3. the establishment of His spiritual kingdom (John 12:32).

Now shall the prince of this world be cast out. The title “prince of this world” was the regular Rabbinic title for Satan, whom they regarded as the ruler of the Gentiles, the Jews not being included in his kingdom. The reign of the true Messiah is over the Gentile and Jewish world alike. Gentiles as well as Jews are at this moment in the temple listening to Him, and Jews as well as Gentiles have been subjects of the prince of this world (John 8:44; Romans 2:0). The world itself, as opposed to Christ, is condemned, because its unbelief crucifies Jesus Christ; but the Resurrection and Ascension are Heaven’s witness that He is the Son of God. The world’s condemnation is followed by the casting out of its ruler.

The whole future is present to the mind of Christ, and in the confidence of victory He uses the emphatic “now” for both the judgment of the world and the dethronement of its prince. It should be noted, however, that the tenses differ. One is thought of as the immediate result of His death; the other is the gradual victory of truth and is spoken of in the same future tense as the “drawing all men” of the following verse.