I don’t think the author means “he’s not nice” in the way you think he does.
I was raised in Christianity, and I fell for Jesus as the image of a saintly hippie. Saintly hippies don’t know anything, aren’t relevant and are more than a little annoying.
When I went back and re-read the Gospels as an adult, I saw much of what this author is saying. Jesus is not a wimp, nor a doormat. He also is extremely wise and doesn’t put with any crap from naysayers.
I had this failed assumption that Jesus was like a well-meaning politician. A nice guy with great ideas, but He would never measure up to the forces rallied against those ideas—He just wasn’t tough enough. I know I couldn’t have been alone in those thoughts, there have to be others, and this article is trying to smack ‘em upside their heads.
Words still have meanings. Jesus is the Man that God wants us all to be. The image Christianity has portrayed is a crying shame. He most likely had short hair. Darker than Caucasians but not black. He was very gentle but unwavering strong in the presence of sin and denounced it. He used the logic in parables over patronization or flattery. It is only through reading and re-reading (with prayer) that one can sense the depth of His character. He never said too much but what He said was enough.