From here:
The discussion with James, more like an argument, had not gone as Jesus had hoped. James, always a bit feisty anyway, being the second eldest, had not liked having this dumped in his lap unexpectedly. In fact he had been thinking about getting married soon, but fortunately there had been no discussions with the father of the potential bride as of yet. James had always labored in the shadow of Jesus, envying his precociousness and the fact that as the eldest, the first born, he was entitled to the lion’s share of the inheritance, even though he, unlike James, was not actually a son of Joseph. This James found hard to swallow.
James was not even placated when Jesus had told him this morning that the inheritance of the eldest should go to him now. James had not accepted, had not believed the family whisperings about Jesus being the Promised One, God’s anointed of the line of David. For one thing, from James’ point of view, Jesus was already twenty seven and as of yet he had made no moves that suggested he might be the messianic one that was to come. Jesus had shown no interest in armies, or the Zealots, no interest in joining the community by the Salt Sea, no interest in resisting tax payments, indeed his whole approach to such troubling matters seemed to be one of non-resistance. How could the son of David be expected to act like this? It certainly didn’t meet James’ expectations or understandings of the ancient prophecies. True, Jesus seemed to have performed a miracle or something remarkable once in a while, but then a miracle didn’t make Elijah the messiah now did it? At least that’s how James viewed things. At most his brother might be some kind of healer or prophet, but he had shown no signs yet of engaging in public ministry or confronting obnoxious rulers like Elijah did. Who knew what to make of Jesus anyway? He was a mystery.