In the modern world, I believe it would be almost impossible for someone to recreate Jesus’ teaching in a way that attracts such a substantial following that Christianity is now. First of all, I don’t think such a message would be taken well in the United States, which is, at least in theory, a secular country. Specifically in the US, we have the freedom to choose whether or not to practice religion, what religion to practice, and to what extent to practice this religion. Since people have this choice, I think that most people are content with what they've chosen, and I don't think that the general population would take too kindly to a middle-class nobody proclaiming any one of these religions as incorrect or immoral.
Also, I think it's important to recognize that although Jesus undoubtedly presented a message with great appeal, I believe many external circumstances controlled the popularity with which this message was spread. For example, with his messages saying “blessed are the poor, for yours is the kingdom of God”, he appealed to the suffering majority of the population of 1st century CE Israel (Luke 6:20). People who are unhappy with their present circumstances are in general, more susceptible and more open to hear messages or suggestions on how to improve their lot. Also, the popularity of Christianity after Jesus’ death was highly influenced by his followers, such as Paul, and other external factors, such as the expulsions of Jews from Israel in 70 CE.
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What I found to be very interesting about your response is the idea that because the United States grants it's citizens the freedom of religion, people will be less inclined or persuaded by an outsider's opinion. I sometimes think that Americans are too proud of their civil liberties and abuse them in a way that they shouldn't. It would be interesting to see if a "modern-day Jesus" were to appear in another part of the world and the people there respected him/her more then they might here in the US?
I agree with you, Snyder said that Jesus teachings were catigorized as social revolutionist thoughts, and today his thoughts would have been more rejected by the people, because his teachings looked beyond ordinary principals.
Maybe we've sen an example of what happens in other, less prosperous and protected parts of the world, with the Pentecostal movement growing so fast in parts of Africa, Asia, and South America. While there's no single leader associated with the Pentecostalists, I think the message of the faith to the dispossessed and downtrodden is having a similar and exemplary effect.
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