Deeper Reflection
The vision of the “stone” in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream which represents the everlasting Kingdom of God that will crush all the kingdoms of the world (Dan 2:31-35, 44-45) finds its fulfilment in Jesus Christ, when He came to earth and declared, “The kingdom of God is at hand” (Mk 1:15).Jesus entered Jerusalem as “the King of Israel” (Jn 12:12-13). But little did anyone know that this King would be a crucified King. The glorious “Behold, your King” which is from God (Jn 12:14-15) became the inglorious “Behold, your King!” declared by Pontius Pilate, who asked the people, “Shall I crucify your King?” (Jn 19:14-15).We must not miss God revealing Himself in Jesus as King on the cross, which John is pointing to us. What kind of King is Jesus? Jesus is a Humble King. The King on the cross is “Jesus the Nazarene” (Jn 19:19). While the inscription on the cross was evil in nature, we must not miss the irony in John’s theological twist. “Jesus the Nazarene” is in reality the only true King. To Nathaniel who sceptically asked, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?”, “Jesus of Nazareth” revealed Himself as “the King of Israel” (Jn 1:45-49). Jesus is a Humiliated King. The cross is a humiliation from the world. Suffering the humiliation is the Hidden King. The King remains hidden until He returns, even though He is now the King of kings (Rev 17:14). Until then, we follow this King loyally in His humility, His humiliation and His hiddenness, in a world that says, “We have no king but Caesar” (Jn 19:15).