One of the interesting things about this essay is some of the anti-Jewish overtones in the gospels may stem from literary need born out of the attempt to present universal saving by Jesus. Reinhartz writes:

(1) Although the Four Gospels vary with respect to some of the details, they all portray some level of animosity between Jesus and other Jews, they all assign responsibility to the high priests and other leaders, albeit in different ways and to different degrees, and they all portray the crowds—presumably composed of Jews who, like Jesus, are in Jerusalem for the Passover—as shouting for Barabbas to be released and Jesus to be crucified (Matt 27:21; Mark 15:11; Luke 23:18; John 18:40). Crossley, James; Keith, Chris. The Next Quest for the Historical Jesus (pp. 103-104). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.. Kindle Edition.

(2) A shift in perspective would lead us away from a search for facts and toward Jesus’s broader context and the questions of how and why the historical Jesus came to be seen in particular ways, for example, as someone with a transcultural universal salvific mission that caused him to reject important elements of his tradition, such as Sabbath and purity laws, and brought him into such serious conflict with Jewish leaders that they did their utmost to get rid of him. Viewing Jesus as a Galilean Jew who lived the same sort of Jewish lifestyle as did other Galilean Jews will help us to pay more than lip service to his Jewish identity. Crossley, James; Keith, Chris. The Next Quest for the Historical Jesus (pp. 105-106). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.. Kindle Edition.