💫WEB · John 16:11
What does John 16:11 mean?
"about judgment, because the prince of this world has been judged."
— John 16:11 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
When he has come, he will convict the world about sin, about righteousness, and about judgment;
about sin, because they don’t believe in me;
about righteousness, because I am going to my Father, and you won’t see me any more;
about judgment, because the prince of this world has been judged.
“I have yet many things to tell you, but you can’t bear them now.
However when he, the Spirit of truth, has come, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak from himself; but whatever he hears, he will speak. He will declare to you things that are coming.
He will glorify me, for he will take from what is mine, and will declare it to you.
Explanation
John 16:11 comes from a longer passage where Jesus, on the night before his crucifixion, is preparing his disciples for his departure. He tells them that he must go away so that the Helper—the Holy Spirit—can come to them. In verses 8-11, Jesus explains that when the Spirit comes, he will convict the world concerning three things: sin, righteousness, and judgment. Verse 11 gives the reason for the third of these: the world will be convicted "about judgment, because the prince of this world has been judged."
To understand this plainly, "the prince of this world" refers to Satan, a title Jesus uses elsewhere in this same discourse (John 12:31; 14:30). Jesus is saying that through his death and resurrection, Satan's rule and authority have already been judged and defeated, even though the disciples had not yet witnessed the cross or resurrection at the time he spoke these words. The verdict, in other words, is settled in advance—Jesus speaks of it as an accomplished fact ("has been judged") even before it fully plays out in history.
The context is crucial. Jesus spoke this during the Farewell Discourse (John 13-17), addressed directly to his eleven remaining disciples, who were anxious and confused about his impending departure. He was comforting and preparing them, explaining that his going to the Father (through death, resurrection, and ascension) was actually to their advantage, because it would result in the sending of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit's ministry, Jesus says, would include convicting the world—exposing the truth to unbel
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