Luke 23:3
And Pilate asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews?  And he answered him and said, Thou sayest it.

What did Pilate see when he looked upon Jesus?  What did he expect this man to be who some called the King of the Jews?  He sat looking upon someone who didn’t appear to be anything special. He was roughed up a little, bound and tied by the Pharisees as some blasphemer, captured as if He were a criminal.  Not a warrior, really, but a Rabbi.  Not a ruler, but kind of a servant.  Not someone of power, but someone meek and submissive.  Or so He seemed.

But not long after Jesus was born, some wise men came to worship Him as the King of the Jews.  Herod tried to kill Him as such.  Some faithful people of God had proclaimed Him as such.  And as Jesus went through Israel teaching and preaching, He presented Himself as the true King of Israel, the one they had all been waiting for, come from God Himself to His people, ready to take His place on the throne and rule eternally over Israel.

But the Jews said they had no king but Caesar.  They had once in their history rejected God and demanded a king, but now as He gives them their perfect and righteous King, they reject Him all over again.  But their refusal to accept Jesus as their King doesn’t change the fact that that is who Jesus is.  He is the King of Israel whether they would bow to Him or not.  And He will rule and reign no matter if some prideful men think He has no right to.  And He is still building His kingdom and preparing a place for those who would surrender to Him.

Jesus was born to be the King of Israel.  He was born to be our Savior and Redeemer.  He has come and accomplished His purposes, and now we can freely accept Him for who He truly is.  We can believe on the Son of God and have forgiveness.  We can trust Him as Savior and be free from sin.  We can surrender to Him as our Lord and Master.  And we can submit to His authority as our King.  Everything about Him is true.  He is all He claimed to be.  And no matter who else would refuse Him those worthy titles, we can exalt King Jesus in our lives.