I'm sure this isn't an original thought, but what if Jesus Christ was the David Koresh, Jim Jones or Charles Manson of his time? There are (
granted, very slight) similarities... charming and smarming his way into devout followers, the claims of being the Messiah, the living slightly apart from the rest of society with his followers (
okay, so maybe not the killing and mass suicide 
)... The only difference is the book that came from Christ's followers (
the worst kind of hearsay), claiming he did all these 'miraculous' things. I'm sure if you looked into followers' statements for Koresh or Manson (
or Jones, if they'd lived), they'd say how 'miraculous' their leaders were, and how they believed what they said - that they were gods on earth.

So... would that mean that all the Christians today are following the (
believed) teachings of a madman? Granted, I'm not an expert on any of these possible 'messiahs', I was just wondering...
As for Jesus being recognized today... see above. Mental institution, strong medications and securely locked doors would be what awaits him, if he decided to 'come back' (
if he was ever here to begin with).
Another question: if Jesus was just a 'vessel' for god to mingle with us peons on earth, I get why he sent 'the vessel' as a guy, in that time. But in this day and age, why couldn't Jesus return as a chick? What if all the 'believers' are on the lookout for a guy, and it's really some broad they should be looking for? Just wondering...

(edited to add admission of possible ignorance

)