Jesus has not taken our flesh to make power plays or control others as worldly kings do who try “to make their importance felt.” God’s gentle mastery of all creation has come in Jesus. And from the very beginning of his ministry, he has refused to be “Super-Jesus.” Ignoring Satan’s prodding when He was tempted, “C’mon, you can do it. Change these stones into loaves of bread. Jump off the top of the Temple,” He says emphatically, “No! Be gone.” He has come to serve, to heal, to console and feed and to wash our smelly feet.
Always he speaks of and embodies a different kind of power, the power of love and self-offering that come from deep trust in his Father. His dominion has nothing to do with pushing others out of the way so that he can be number one and have control. He will enter Jerusalem meek, riding on a little donkey. And soon after he will receive the only crown we could manage to offer him - one woven out of cruel thorns. And so we may call him king if we understand that he has turned the whole idea of power and majesty absolutely upside-down, inside-out; it is debunked. For his power is made perfect in littleness and weakness.
