¹¹ “… and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.”

Judgment looms over the world of unbelievers. And it began with the judgment of Satan. The actual event that brought on this judgment was still future to the time Jesus spoke these words, but in today’s vernacular, we could say, “It is as good as done.” The certainty is not in question. From God’s purview, from which perspective Jesus was now speaking, the future is as certain as the past. Theologians call this the “prophetic past tense,” and attribute this to many statements in the Bible about future events being of the certain nature that they are referred to as already past. Isaiah 53, the prophecy of the “Suffering Servant,” referring to the death of Christ hundreds of years before its historical occurrence, uses the past tense throughout. For example, “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth …” (Is 53:7).

The ultimate judgment will come at the end of time, the scripture writer again using the prophetic past tense, “And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever” (Rev 20:10). The certainty of this being so fixed in Jesus’ mind, He said earlier in the Upper Room, “Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out” (John 12:31).

The march is on, the gates of Hades will not prevail (Matt 16:18) against the onslaught of the Spirit. Satan is judged already, and the evidence is the presence of the Holy Spirit. God has staked out a beachhead in enemy territory, and the conclusion is determined. The die has been cast. There is no hope for the ruler of this world.

Yes, the judgment has been set and the verdict, but the sentence has not yet been enforced. Satan is still on the loose (1 Peter 5:8). God is in the process of subduing the devil’s power through the image-bearing function of humanity: “Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil…” (Heb 2:14). God could have simply spoken a word and Satan would be gone (Matt 4:10). But, in keeping with His original creation of humans in His image, God would defeat Satan using the essence of humanity, namely the image of God. So in the end, God’s purposes in creation are fulfilled, His glory shining brightly as He originally intended – through His image bearers.

Lord, thank You that the judgment of my adversary is complete.