Our king hangs on a cross.  Onlookers saw this as the final defeat of a fool who many saw as an insurrectionist.  They laughed at him and challenged his kingship by looking for proof: Save yourself!  Historically, earthly kings are influential figures wielding significant power over the quality of their subjects' lives.  Where is Jesus' power? Slowly fading away, he's a failure in many eyes.  Brokenness and vulnerability are often seen as failures.  Something went wrong and exposed us, revealing our fragile and sometimes incorrect selves to others.  Yet, what appears at first to be shameful is really a golden key to life.  It is only when vulnerable that we learn how to love genuinely.  Marking what seems the end of a failed mission, Jesus Christ our King hangs before us as the vulnerable, wounded key to God's infinite love and life.  The kingdoms of this world pass away.  Jesus hangs as our king of a world that never ends.  When we are vulneralbe and broken in death, we fall into the fullness of Christ and are made one with him.  This is more than any earthly king can promise and is the salvation we seek.