Scholars say a few different things. Dr Justin Sledge has a video on his own youtube channel Esoterica on the story of the Historical Jesus that I think makes a lot of sense and is really moving. Jesus was certainly a few things. He was a miracle worker. He wasn't alone in that sort of thing; there were other miracle workers in the area. He was part of a movement called apocalypticism. This was a movement that didn't seek to end the world necessarily, but to bring about the rulership of God over Judea and to bring about the end of history (Francis Fukuyama eat your heart out) Jesus would go to Jerusalem in order to defeat evil and bring about the Kingdom of God, but he was an ursurper to Roman power and would therefore be hanged as a traitor to the Roman Empire. The Messiah was supposed to be a liberator and there were a number of "messiahs" throughout history All of them had as their goal the restoration of Israel to its native land. Some sought to accomplish this through penitence, fasting, and prayer, and looked forward to miracles to assist them; others appealed to arms.