The target audience of the gospel writers was not the educated Jewish religious leaders, but the common man. Most of these people would not have been well-versed in the OT, and wouldn't have been able to cross-reference the passages easily.It would have been easy enough to ask a Rabbi.
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Even today, Christian preachers, teachers, and authors are proclaiming that Jesus fulfilled specific predictive prophecies even though the "flock" should know that that is not the case. Proof that it could have worked 2000 years ago is the fact that it actually is still working today.
There's an important difference. Most Christians are Christians because they were brought up that way. It's not likely that they would seriously question their beliefs. By the same token, 2000 years ago most Jews were Jews because they were brought up that way. They'd also have the inclination not to question their beliefs. Thus it would be difficult to convert them to Christianity. And we see this historically. Christianity never made great inroads into Judaism. Christianity has only been successful amonst Gentiles, who, of course, had no attachment to the OT.
Still, even if Spong has overstated his case, there are still some pretty clear midrashic elements in the Gospels. Jesus as the Passover sacrifice is a good one.
If God wanted us to be Atheists we'd be born that way.
