HIs followers faced persecution and still do. Stephen faced persecution for certain. So did Paul. I am unclear as to Paul. James, his brother, was executed, too.
I researched Christian martyrdom for a college term paper. Persecution was linked to economic downturns. It was mostly episodic. No one was truly safe until Constantine made Christianity the state religion for political reasons rather than religious ones. For a period, martyrdom became more important than baptism for denoting a Christian. One's true birth date in Christ was not baptism but when you died. It became so popular among Christians that people would voluntarily announce it the Romans. Many were not prepared for torture, however, and revealed all the Christians they knew to the Romans so people who never wanted such a commitment were executed. Ignatius can't wait to meet the lions. He begs the church not to rescue him. The Church decided to tighten down on voluntary martyrdoms.
Of course, when Christianity became dominant in Europe, it persecuted many.
Christ's intent is never clear. Another research topic was the historical Jesus and the Son of Man tradition.
For me, the most important issue is the Incarnation. Christology is more important than the Jesus narratives. In the gospels, Christ is never clear about his stature. It doesn't even seem to be an issue. When he speaks of the Son of Man, he refers to a third person. I am convinced personally that the leap from good Jewish boy to God was too great for Jesus to make. We know little about the doctrine of the Jerusalem Church.. Their clinging to Jewish religious forms suggests they viewed themselves as a subset of Judaism, not a new religion. Paul arrives much later.
The Jerusalem contingent kept kosher which implies that they maintained traditional Jewish notions that God is what is not human. God is completely transcedent. It would be fascinating if we had a record of early Christology debates between the factions.
Almost everyone reads Jesus in tradition and popular culture into the Gospel accounts. Jung remarked that we project our desires and fears onto Jesus, regardless of the gospel accounts. Frankly, Jesus did not seem to care about it. The apostles don't seem overburdened with the issue, either.
