The latter is what I’m thinking. From the Bible and related stories, before he really had a following, Jesus Christ was just a humble dude who put others before himself and tried to do good in his community.

I’m not religious, so I don’t buy all of it hook, line, and sinker, so my take on the miracles is that there was a rational explanation but nobody knew what it was. Like how magic tricks are. Because there haven’t been any in modern times. These days, I think someone would just pick them apart, look at them from every angle, and explain them.