Passage

John 12.31

Book: John · NASB95

"Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out." (John 12:31, NASB95)

Jesus' declaration here is the Johannine compression of the Christus Victor atonement motif: the cross is not only the place where sin is borne and judgment satisfied, it is also the place where Satan is decisively defeated and dethroned as cosmic usurper. The verse anchors a network of New Testament texts on the defeat of the devil (Colossians 2.15, Hebrews 2.14, Revelation 12.9, 1 John 3:8) and supplies one of the most significant exegetical inputs for the Christus Victor model of the atonement.

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"29. The multitude therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it had thundered: others said, An angel hath spoken to him. 30. Jesus answered and said, This voice hath not come for my sake, but for your sakes."

"31. Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out."

"32. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto myself. 33. But this he said, signifying by what manner of death he should die." (John 12:29-33, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"29. The multitude therefore, who stood by and heard it, said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” 30. Jesus answered, “This voice hasn’t come for my sake, but for your sakes."

"31. Now is the judgment of this world. Now the prince of this world will be cast out."

"32. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33. But he said this, signifying by what kind of death he should die." (John 12:29-33, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"29. The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered: others said, An angel spake to him. 30. Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes."

"31. Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out."

"32. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. 33. This he said, signifying what death he should die." (John 12:29-33, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"29. the multitude, therefore, having stood and heard, were saying that there hath been thunder; others said, 'A messenger hath spoken to him.' 30. Jesus answered and said, 'Not because of me hath this voice come, but because of you;"

"31. now is a judgment of this world, now shall the ruler of this world be cast forth;"

"32. and I, if I may be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto myself.' 33. And this he said signifying by what death he was about to die;" (John 12:29-33, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: Jesus
Audience: the crowd in Jerusalem (mixed Jewish festival pilgrims and Greeks who had requested an audience, John 12:20-22); the disciples
Location: Jerusalem, during the final week before the crucifixion, immediately after the Triumphal Entry (John 12:12-15 / Zechariah 9.9)
Time period: Passover week, c. AD 30-33; days before the crucifixion

Theological reading

Three Greek words carry the weight of this verse. Krisis (judgment) is being passed now on "the world" (kosmos); the "ruler of this world" (ho archōn tou kosmou toutou) is being "cast out" (ekballō). The temporal marker nun (now) is repeated for emphasis: this is not a vague eschatological prediction but a declaration tied to the immediately approaching cross, which v. 33 makes explicit ("but he was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He was to die"). The cross is not Satan's victory appearance over Jesus; the cross is Jesus' judicial dethronement of Satan over the cosmos.

The title "ruler of this world" appears three times in John's Gospel (12:31, 14:30, 16:11), and each occurrence is tied to the cross. In 14:30 the ruler "is coming" and "has nothing in Me", the forensic ground for the defeat is Christ's sinlessness, which gives Satan no juridical claim. In 16:11 the Spirit will convict the world of judgment "because the ruler of this world has been judged." John's theology is consistent: the cross is the cosmic courtroom where the verdict against the accuser is rendered.

This Johannine compression is unfolded across the New Testament. Colossians 2.15 depicts Christ on the cross "disarming the rulers and authorities" and making "a public display of them, having triumphed over them", a Roman-triumph image where Satan and his hosts are the defeated captives paraded behind the victor. Hebrews 2.14 says Jesus partook of flesh and blood "that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil." Revelation 12.9 narrates the casting out of the dragon, picking up ekballō (the same verb as John 12:31) and explicitly identifying him as Satan. 1 John 3:8 declares that "the Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil." This cluster constitutes the New Testament case for the Christus Victor model: the atonement is not only substitutionary (Christ bears the sin penalty in our place) and exemplary (Christ models perfect love), but also victorious (Christ defeats the cosmic powers that hold humanity captive). The three models are complementary, not competitive; classical Christian atonement theology integrates all three.

For apologetics, John 12:31 is the answer to one of the most common atheist objections: if Jesus' death "defeated Satan," why does evil continue? The biblical answer is "now / not yet." The verdict has been rendered (12:31, Satan is cast out judicially), but the full execution awaits the eschaton (Revelation 20.10, Satan thrown into the lake of fire). Christians live between the D-Day of the cross and the V-Day of consummation. Satan operates as a defeated power on borrowed time, not as a sovereign rival. This is the canonical Christian framework for the persistence of evil after Calvary.

Key words

G2920 - krisis, krisis (Strong's G2920), "judgment, decisive verdict", both forensic verdict and apocalyptic crisis.
G2889 - kosmos, kosmos (Strong's G2889), "world, cosmos, world-system", in John's usage often the moral-political order in rebellion against God.
archon, archōn (Strong's G758), "ruler, prince", title applied to Satan in John 12:31 / 14:30 / 16:11; also of human rulers (Jn 3:1, Pharisee).
ekballo, ekballō (Strong's G1544), "to cast out, expel", the same verb used for Jesus' exorcisms in the Synoptics; here applied to the cosmic exorcism of Satan.
G4567 - satanas, satanas (Strong's G4567), "Satan, adversary", the figure named in parallel texts (Revelation 12.9).
G2673 - katargeo, katargeo (Strong's G2673), "to render powerless, abolish", the cognate term for the defeat in Hebrews 2.14.

Theological themes

Christus Victor. The cross as cosmic victory over Satan, sin, death, and the powers; one of three classical atonement models.
Judgment now. The verdict is rendered at Calvary, not postponed to the eschaton.
Cosmic kingship. Satan as illegitimate usurper; Christ as rightful king reclaiming creation.
Already / not yet. The defeat is judicially complete (now) but awaits full execution (not yet); resolves the "why does evil continue" objection.
Cross as exorcism. Ekballō applied to Satan parallels Jesus' demon-expulsions in the Synoptics; the cross is the climactic exorcism.

Cross-references

John 14.30, "the ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in Me"; sinlessness as juridical ground.
John 16.11, "because the ruler of this world has been judged."
Colossians 2.15, Christ disarmed the rulers and authorities; the cross as Roman triumph.
Hebrews 2.14, Christ destroyed him who had the power of death.
Revelation 12.9, the dragon cast out; same verb ekballō.
Revelation 20.10, final consummation of the defeat at the eschaton.
Genesis 3.15, the proto-evangelium; seed of the woman crushing the serpent's head.
1 John 3.8, "to destroy the works of the devil."
Luke 10.18, "I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning."

Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.