Conditioned Existences of Realized Beings

I read that Buddha died after eating a well intentioned meal made for him?

Interesting.  I would need to know where you saw or heard that to judge its validity.  However, I studied Buddhism at the PhD level, and all accounts I know indicate that he lived until a natural death in old age.  The lotus sutra is the most common text to reference the end of his life and never discusses his actual death.  

It was in a Reader's Digest article on Buddha in the late 70s/early 80s. I have a sister who goes on Buddhist retreats. The article explained Buddha had fasted so much through life the meal (made by a blacksmith IIRC) upset his stomach and hastened his death.

Could be.  In the lotus sutra, he claims to be teaching for the last time and will be passing on.  After that, I have found no description of his death.  

I'm as disgusted with the way the crucifixion is sold as the end all be all of martyrdom, as I am intrigued by the idea that Jesus was somehow influenced by Buddhism.  

But current events seem to firmly establish that the lingering generational reverberations of homicidal Levantine culture are certainly less attractive than the Noble Eightfold path, including how it compares with the sermon on the mount. Thusly it seems we "westerners" never have had the moral high ground that some would have us believe that the west has, and whatever alleged advantages "the west" has ever had would be more attributable to Greco-Roman philosophic cultural influence, than anything Christianity ever had to offer.    

Your premise intrigues, and I am quite amenable to it, but I can imagine the comparison to be difficult to quantify and qualify.  

I'm woefully unschooled in Buddhism, though. What Buddhistic text do you recommend I investigate?  

I don't think I will live long enough to read them all:)

I would recommend the Tao Te Ching.  It is pre-buddhist china, but it gets to the heart of it.  The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius is a similar text.  I suggest those first because they are shorter and self contained.  A lot of Buddhist texts are doors to a much larger cannon that is necessary to understand their full implications.  If you want that, I would start with the Pali Cannon.  It is the closest we have to the actual teachings of the historical Buddha, since that person never wrote anything (just like Jesus).  For the fastest understanding, try YouTube videos of Alan Watts, especially anything to do with Zen.  
Thank you for reading and commenting!

Thanks!

I appreciate the advice!

I never heard of the attempt on Buddha I will ask some of my friends about that. But if we are talking about the environment, it does strike a chord that they would persecute one more than the other.

Devadatta (Devadanta) made attempts on Buddha's life, but eventually become a disciple.