Assuming there was a historical figure Jesus, I do wonder if he really thought of himself as a divine sacrificial saviour at the time. In my opinion this idea could have been developed later as his followers tried to put a positive spin on his death.
Related to this is a particular passage in the bible that sits theologically apart from other passages, at least in some translations.
Compare the words of Jesus in Luke 17 in the New International Version (NIV):
The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.
To the same passage in the King James Bible:
The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.
The first translation suggests ‘heaven’, or access to it, is in or through Jesus, whilst in the second translation it is in the individual. The relevant word in Greek is ἐντός, normally translated as ‘within’. The choice of ‘in our midst’ seems to be a theological choice to boost the divine saviour narrative rather than an attempt to be semantically faithful to the Greek original.
The first translation harmonises with the idea of humanity being tainted and not being able to reach God without Jesus as ‘middle man’, or alternatively, perhaps, the Church and its clergy as an earthly stand-in for Jesus whilst the second translation casts Jesus as more of a wisdom teacher alerting people to the potential within themselves.
In both translations there are then some words prophesying a coming apocalypse and the return of Jesus, which admittedly fits better with the 'in your midst' translation.
However the translation ‘within’ is worth considering. It suggests heaven is in the here and now and inwardly accessible to individuals without input from Jesus. It casts Jesus in a less elevated role and is reminiscent of a passage in the gnostic non-canonical gospel of Thomas.
If your leaders say to you, 'Look, the (Father's) kingdom is in the sky,' then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, 'It is in the sea,' then the fish will precede you. Rather, the (Father's) kingdom is within you and it is outside you.
When you know yourselves, then you will be known, and you will understand that you are children of the living Father. But if you do not know yourselves, then you live in poverty, and you are the poverty.
This passage is more in keeping with the Eastern idea of the ‘heaven-stuff’ permeating the whole of creation.