John 12:31 “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.”
Until the coming of the Lord, the focus of His Old Testament Church-Kingdom had been among Israel; He had preserved it even amongst all the corruption and ungodliness that dominated Jerusalem and the Jewish religion at that time. The Lord used the arrival of the Gentiles (John 12:21-22) to mark and emphasize that a great change was at hand. The vile and wicked “prince of this world”, was working through the Jewish leaders to accomplish his sinister designs, but he was about to lose His grip on the people. Already, great multitudes were following the Lord, which was further infuriating the Jewish leaders, and certainly “the prince of this world”, but they were powerless to stop it! Our Lord declared that in His Death, Burial, and Resurrection He would “draw all men unto” Himself. [The “all men” are all (Jews and Gentiles) that the Father had chosen in Him before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4) and had given to Him to Eternally save (John 6:37).] The magnificent miracle of our Lord’s Death, Burial, and Resurrection powerfully marked the transition from the Old Testament Law Service to His New Testament Christian Church, and the Illumination by the Holy Spirit (Acts 2) sealed the change, and “about three thousand souls” were “added” to the New Testament Church of Jesus Christ in one day (Acts 2:41). Thus, the “prince of this world” was essentially “cast out” from among the people, he lost his filthy grip on them. Now, they began to “worship” “the Father” “in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). However, the “prince of this world” was not rendered powerless at that time, for he continues to trouble the Church, even down to this very day. But, from His Heavenly Throne, even today, God the Father “hath put all things under” our Lord’s “feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church” (Ephesians 1:22) – “the prince of this world” keeps trying to cause trouble, but he IS “cast out”!