The Gospels tell us that when Jesus was crucified, a sign was hung over his head that said "King of the Jews." The Temple authorities protested that it should have said: "He said he was king of the Jews." The Romans probably did not make a mistake. They meant to mock Jesus and the Jews who did not have a king, but only a tetrarch, ruler of a quarter of the kingdom that had been ruled by King Herod, the last king of lsrael.
The Romans had assigned that quarter kingdom to Herod's son, Herod Antipas and they kept him on a tight leash. The execution of John the Baptist was only one of his blatant cruelties.
When Jesus' followers turned the insulting sign into praise for their leader, Herod Antipas was not pleased. He wanted to take over all of his father's kingdom; he wanted to be king of Jews, and this nobody, one so low he was executed in the most demeaning way possible, was being called "King of the Jews."
This did not endear followers of "The Way" to Herod Antipas.
Eventually, Herod went too far, and his reputation preceded him when he went to Rome to beg the emperor to make him king of the Jews. He was stripped of all of his titles and advantages.
Jesus, on the other hand, is accorded the honors of a king, even today. The last shall be first, indeed.

Lenten Devotions
March 25, 2021