In Lord of the Rings by the Christian author JRR Tolkien, a man lives in the wild. He is an ugly man, rough around the edges from long harsh years. But we discover that this man, out of all men, is actually of the lineage of the old Kings. By the end, he is revealed as King with a crown and a flag—but before that he is revealed by action and circumstance.
Jesus declared himself to be a king in various ways, but not usually the way the people expected. For example, in Matt 25:34, he speaks of the Son of Man returning to separate the Goats and the Sheep and we see that he is speaking about a King is functioning in a kingly capacity under God.
Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.
But he doesn’t only illustrate the point, he acts on it. So you’ll see him commanding the very dead to come back to life in John 11, or feeding the crowds by fiat (John 6) , or demanding the storm to be still (Mark 4:35-40) thus revealing a power over creation that has been lost since Adam. You’ll see him forgiving sin and making the lame walk, and even pointing out that both occur because the Son of Man has authority (Matthew 9:4-8) to do so:
Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” Then the man got up and went home. When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to man.
The Wise Men came seeking a king and they found him (Mathew 2:2) and one day every knee in heaven and on earth will bow to him (Isa 45:23; Phil 2:10) but Jesus points out that he was a King right while he was here (John 18:37) and more so, when he conquered over the grave waiting until his enemies are made his footstool (Psalm 110; Acts 2:32-33).
God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.
Jesus was revealed as King.