Who are the "ecclesiologists?" Not quite a household name, even in the "household of the faith." Are they an independent, non-institutional research group? Identifiable?  
Ecclesia is mentioned only twice in gospels. A latter  insertion?
I perceive Jesus primarily as raising consciousness by questioning the given. "But I say to you..."
Like the Buddha who didn't envision an ecclesia in his name, but focused on consciousness raising. 
The meat of the matter is the message of Jesus encapsulated in the Sermon on the Mount, imo.  
Unfortunately, not at the center & core of the RCC which has created an anti-Sermon on the Mount morality based on fear, guilt and compliance, not questioning.
The Anabaptist tradition has sought to refocus on the Sermon on the Mount which espouses a morality that is embraced in the exception. Chesterton's assertion: Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried.
Brown remains an archeologist, digging at the root.