Did Jesus' Brothers Believe in Him?

On the surface, Jesus' brothers apparently did not believe in him. "For not even his brothers believed in him" (John 7:5). So why bother asking the question? Because, as usual, there is more there than meets the eye. When the verse is isolated from its context, one is forced to accept they had no belief whatsoever. However, when the surrounding verses are studied, one may suspect that they believed on some level, but their belief was immature.

Notice what is said before verse 5:

So his brothers said to him, "Leave here and go to Judea, that you disciples also may see the works you are doing. For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world" (7:3-4, ESV).

So what does this mean? What kind of belief did they have? They were obviously skeptical about Jesus (cf. Mark 3:21; 1 Cor. 15:7), but to what degree? Here are some options:

Complete Unbelief. This is most unlikely, for they would not have seriously challenged him to perfrom miracles if they did not believe he could do them.

Offering Sound Advice. So...were they just giving him "advice" on how to get more followers? Many of Jesus' "disciples" had recently turned their backs on him (John 6:66). The brothers may have been encouraging Jesus to go to Jerusalem, the center of Jewish worship, and show himself, performing miracles and winning the masses who would attend the Feast of Tabernacles (this was THE FEAST for the Jews, so anybody who was anybody would've been there).

Immature belief. I think this is the best option. While their words were couched in the form of advice, it may be that they had the same superficial belief as the crowds that had turned away. In other words, whatever belief the brothers had in Jesus may have been based on the "outward signs" Jesus performed (the miracles themselves) and not on the "inward truth" to which they pointed (that Jesus was The Prophet, the Son of God). Jesus brothers may have thought that he was a prophet/miracle worker but not the messiah.

As Satan sought to tempt Jesus to use his abilities for self-seeking purposes (Matt. 4:5-7), the brothers doubt was not in their brother's ability but in his person. Who could deny that he did great things? No one! But not everyone believed him to be the messiah.