Kings and Jesus

A king kneeling and giving liege to a stronger king is resigning his kingship. He is agreeing to become a vassal, so he is no longer a real king. His role was totally changed. He lost his authority and became a ambassador or governor enforcing the will of the conquering king. He went from being a king to being a puppet.

Some surrendering kings were allowed to keep their title, but this done was to keep the people of the conquered nation under control. They would resist a foreign governor, like the Iraqi people hated Paul Bremer. The defeated people would often give up their resistance, if their previous king took the governor role, because foreign domination was easier to accept if it had a local face..

Herod was allowed to call himself king, but he was just a puppet. He had to go to Rome and plead for the role. If he did not carry out the directions of Rome he lost the Rome. He was not a real king. His role in Galilee was equivalent to the role of Pontius Pilate in Judea.

If kings surrender to Jesus, he does not need to keep them on as puppets to be the acceptable face of his kingship, because the Holy Spirit is his ambassador, conveying his instructions. The same applies to Presidents and Prime Ministers.