I haven’t read Reza Aslan’s book, but it sounds like it’s in the same vein as Michael Hudson’s work situation Jesus in the historical context of Bronze Age concepts about economic justice.
Hudson argues that the jubilee—the official erasure of debts and freeing of slaves—was the foundational pillar of Brone Age economies in the near East. The Iron Age Israelites continued this tradition by encoding it as a religious obligation on all Jews, the 50-year jubilee cycle.
Jesus, he argued, was revolting to restore this tradition that had been suppressed by the Romans and their local allies. The “year of the lord” he wanted to restore was the jubilee year. And, for that, the Romans crucified him.
HeavenlyPossum