(quote)
jesus story gained popularity after death as the movement away from judaism progressed.
It doesn't appear that Jesus carried any movement, although, by the stories written about him, the parables recorded by others---Jesus was attempting to cause reform within his own faith. Not start a new faith.
It seems that scholarship points to the movement (after Jesus' death) to be carried on by Jews. Huge intra-Jewish debate over the direction of Judaism after the fall of the 2nd Temple and the Jewish-Roman war (66 AD)--which way would Judaism go? The way of Jesus or the way of the developing Rabbinical tradition?
Jews were protected from having to give homage to the Roman gods/goddesses, but they weren't as protected when they began to embrace Jesus along with Gentiles who began embracing him also (a la Paul's efforts)---at that point rabbinic Judaism was safe in terms of persecution in the Roman empire (for faith reasons) but those who followed Jesus were at risk and became increasingly so.
I credit the "movement", the success of Christianity to the Roman Empire itself---to Constantine who (I think) used it for political means to try to hold the empire together---one emperor, one empire, one god.