Hi Erik, in John 6:15, Jesus avoided them at that time who were gong to make him "a" king. A king of that region in Israel, up around the sea of Galilee.
It was not as the King of Israel, and Jesus went the other way because it did nor fit the prophecy in Zechariah 9:9, which he had come to fulfill. Which had to be when he rides into
Jerusalem on the donkey - to be rejected as King of Israel.
9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold,
thy King cometh unto thee: he
is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.
Did the Jews reject Jesus as King? I think I would look at John 19:14-15.
14 And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour:
and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King!
15 But
they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.
__________________________________________________________________
Regarding Simon Bar Kochba, Rabbi Akira's declaration of him being the messiah didn't count as him been king of "united" Israel.
He was a leader over a independent Jewish state for three years, though, supported by the rabbi's. As the Romans began to close in, Bar Kochba (a name the R. Akiva gave him, but was later known as "bar Kozba" meaning son of a lie) became paranoid about insider spies and had R. Elazar executed. That action caused the rabbi's to no longer support him.
Bar Kochba « Jewish History
"Yet, in a fit of almost insane paranoia Bar Kochba accused the great sage, Rabbi Elazar, of being the spy and executed him. He then lost the support of the rabbis completely. It eroded all chance of reconciliation. Then they began calling him, “Bar Koziba,” meaning the son of a lie; a false messiah. Their hopes were dashed."
The Jews (Judaism) at MessiahTruth, Yuku site, don't consider Simon Bar Kochba as a king of Israel (the united country) like Saul, David, Solomon. In Ezekiel 37, it is not until the two sticks of Ephraim and Judah are joined that the messiah, code named David My servant, will be their king forever.
Which the two sticks were joined back together as a united Israel in 1948. The Antichrist, the King of Israel (united Israel) could not come to power until then.
One of the reasons bar Kochba was not considered the messiah (or shall we say failed messiah) is because he did not take part in rebuilding the temple.
Because the animal sacrifices will start up again in the end times prophecies, the Antichrist person will take part in some way of the rebuilding of the temple. The Jews are tying their expectation of the messiah with the rebuilding of the temple.