dear Viviane...
you said, " In any event, Jesus never became King, so the prophecy fails. You can, of course, argue he is Kingin heaven, but that'sa theological argument and not a historical one."...
in john 12:12-16 it is written that there were a multitude of people who, of their own accord, welcomed Jesus as King into Jerusalem. The pharisees witnessed the procession (john 12:19) and that may be why they argued about "king of the jews" being inscribed on His cross (john 19:21) Jesus was elected King and Saviour by a multitude of jewish people without any involvement of the priests as was the custom.
love michelle