If you believe he was more than an ordinary man, the meaning behind was simple: that was not his mission.
You can say that at least since the Summerians, or much before without the sense of empire or a more modern sense of society, there had been many scholars, scientists, artists and above all intelectuals in most of civilazations. However, it few exceptions, that was a privileged condition only accessible to social-economical elites.
Jesus tried to serve as a living example that you shouldnt despise low-class, poverty or anyone without "high knowledge", so to speak. He showed that, more than conventions, money or culture, what really interests to God is everyone's well-being and that can only be done when you respect yourself and others, being compassionate and loving, because, more than abstract concepts or machines, we are both social and sentimental beings. Its not for anything that in the first two years of life we develop our relational and creative skills and only after that most rational side.
An example of the importance of Jesus is that only after and with his doctrine we started to talk about "Humanity". The closest you were from that was with a Socrates' quote: "I'm a citizen of the world", but greeks were arrogant and despised strangers, had a really restricted Democracy in Athens, were used to slavery and underestimated women.
You can say however that Jesus tried to unite both elites and low-class as equal, calling them "brothers" and "sisters", being empatetic with human flaws, such as stealing, cheating or excesses in general each time they showed the will to improve themselves. He valued men and women as equals, showing that the purest virtues in which to found a balanced life can be as simpler as those of children.
It could be seen as a mixture of Oriental introspection (Taoism, Budism and Brahmanism) with the dogmatic and god-focused approach (specially monoteist faiths, such as Zoroastrism and Judaism).