A Children’s Story Inspired by Cyril of Alexandria

Introduction for Parents

The King Who Wore Common Clothes

This story began while I was reading a commentary on Romans 1 and trying to understand how Jesus could be truly God—unchanging and eternal—while also becoming truly human, entering a world of growth, suffering, and change.

“Concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh, and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
— Romans 1:3–4 (ESV)

Douglas Moo notes that the word often translated “declared” is better understood as “appointed.” Taken literally, the phrase “Jesus was appointed the Son of God… by His resurrection from the dead” could appear to suggest that Jesus became something He previously was not—implying a change in His divine status. This raises the classic theological question of how to reconcile immutability (God does not change), mutability (human beings do change), and the economy of salvation (the way God works in history through His Son).

While studying these ideas, I encountered a beautiful analogy from Cyril of Alexandria. His picture helped me understand how Jesus could walk among us as a servant without ever ceasing to be the eternal King.

Cyril wrote:

“A king puts on the clothes of a servant.
He looks like a servant, is treated as a servant,
but never ceases to be king by nature.
After completing the work he came to do,
the king removes the servant’s garments
and appears again in his royal robes,
acknowledged by all as the king he always was.”

The verse from Paul, together with Cyril’s analogy, became the inspiration for the children’s story that follows.

The King Who Wore Common Clothes

Once upon a time, in a bright and beautiful kingdom, there lived a great and noble King. His crown sparkled like the morning sun, and his robes shimmered like the colors of a rainbow. Everyone who saw Him knew at once: “That is our King!” But one day, the King did something no one expected.

He stepped into His royal dressing room, took off His shining robes, folded them carefully, and hung them on a golden hook. Then He reached for something simple—plain brown clothes like the farmers and bakers and woodcutters wore every day. He put them on. He looked just like any other worker in the land.

The King walked out among His people. He carried water buckets, swept dusty floors, helped mend broken wagons, and comforted tired travelers. People saw a servant. They spoke to Him like a servant. Some didn’t even look at Him at all. But even in those plain brown clothes, the truth never changed: He was still the King.

He was the King before He put on the servant clothes. He was the King while He wore them. And He would be the King after His work was done. Nothing—not the dust on His hands or the weariness in His feet—could change who He truly was.

One morning, when all the work He came to do was finally completed, the King quietly returned to His palace. He stepped into His royal dressing room again, and took off the plain clothes. Then He put on His shining robes—the ones that glowed like sunlight and sang like waterfalls.

When He stepped out before the people, they gasped. “It’s Him! It’s the King! He was with us the whole time!” They fell to their knees—not because He had suddenly become the King, but because now they could see the truth that had always been there.

Children, this is a picture of Jesus. When Jesus came to earth, He put on “servant clothes”—a human body, just like ours. He worked, helped, obeyed, served, and even suffered. But He never stopped being the King—not for one moment.

After His great work was finished—after the cross and the resurrection—Jesus stepped into glory again. He appeared openly as the mighty King He had always been. Nothing about His divine nature changed. Only His appearance and His role changed for a time.

Just like the King in the story, Jesus put on servant clothes (His Incarnation), worked humbly among us (His Humiliation), and put on His royal glory again (His Resurrection and Exaltation). Yet He remained the same King the whole time—because His divine nature never changes.

The True Story Behind the Story

Long ago, in a quiet town called Bethlehem, a baby was born—small, soft, and wrapped in plain cloth. He had no crown on His head, no palace around Him, and no royal bed beneath Him. But this baby was different. This baby was the true King.

As Jesus grew, He didn’t build a palace. He didn’t sit on a throne. He didn’t command armies. Instead, He helped the hurting, welcomed the lonely, fed the hungry, washed His friends’ feet, touched the sick, taught with kindness, and obeyed His Father perfectly.

One day, Jesus allowed Himself to be taken by soldiers. He was treated like a criminal. He was hurt, mocked, and nailed to a cross. It looked like the end. But even then—even in suffering—He was still the King.

Then, on the third day, something glorious happened. The stone was rolled away, and Jesus rose up—alive, shining, powerful, victorious. He stepped out like the king who removed his servant-clothes and put on his royal robes once more.

Just as the king in the story removed his servant clothes and appeared in glory, Jesus rose and appeared as the mighty King He had always been. His birth, His life, His death, and His resurrection all show the same truth: Jesus is the eternal King whose love brought Him down to us, and whose victory lifts us up to Him.

Final Word

In this children’s story we have seen how the true King put on the clothes of a servant, walked among His people, finished His great work, and then stepped forth in His royal glory. And this is the story of Jesus.

He was born in humility, lived with kindness, died in love, and rose in power—yet through it all He never stopped being who He had always been: our everlasting King, our Lord, our Savior, and our God. His humanity let Him walk beside us. His divinity never changed. And His resurrection showed the world what had been true from all eternity.

So we end with the Scripture that shines a light on this beautiful mystery:

“Concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh,
and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness
by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
— Romans 1:3–4 (ESV)

Iam Kerr

November 2025