1Now concerning things sacrificed to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 2But if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he doesn’t yet know as he ought to know. 3But anyone who loves God is known by him.
4Therefore concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that no idol is anything in the world, and that there is no other God but one. 5For though there are things that are called “gods”, whether in the heavens or on earth—as there are many “gods” and many “lords”— 6yet to us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we live through him.
7However, that knowledge isn’t in all men. But some, with consciousness of an idol until now, eat as of a thing sacrificed to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. 8But food will not commend us to God. For neither, if we don’t eat are we the worse, nor if we eat are we the better. 9But be careful that by no means does this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to the weak. 10For if a man sees you who have knowledge sitting in an idol’s temple, won’t his conscience, if he is weak, be emboldened to eat things sacrificed to idols? 11And through your knowledge, he who is weak perishes, the brother for whose sake Christ died. 12Thus, sinning against the brothers, and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. 13Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will eat no meat forever more, that I don’t cause my brother to stumble.
In Mark 15:1, scribes are mentioned along with the chief priests and elders as part of the Sanhedrin that handed Jesus over to Pilate. This council served as the highest administrative and legal body in the Jewish state under Rome. Scribes were an educated class who studied the Scriptures and served as copyists, editors, and teachers. They are sometimes referred to as lawyers due to their expertise in the Mosaic Law (Matt 22:35; Luke 7:30), which was the sole basis for civil as well as religious government. Some scribes were priests. Others came from the party of the Sadducees. They were usually associated with the Pharisees (Matt 12:38; Mark 2:16; 7:5; Luke 6:7) as teachers of the Law and sometimes as members of the Pharisaic party (Mark 2:16). Two such scribes were Gamaliel (Acts 5:34) and Nicodemus, who is called "a ruler of the Jews," in John 3:1.
As a body of men who transcribed the ancient records of Israel, scribes date back to the time of the kings of Israel. After the Babylonian Captivity, scribes, such as Ezra, promoted the return to strict observance of the Law and of the traditions that had grown up around it. This emphasis gave them respect as men of superior devotion and spirituality. Their official interpretation of the Law eventually became binding, and they were given the authority to enforce their rules.
To become a scribe, a young Israelite took a set course of study for several years under a teacher who helped him gain competence in deciding questions of interpretation, application, and enforcement of the Law. When they completed their study, they sat in what was called "the chair of Moses" (Matt 23:2). Perhaps to control bribery, scribes were required to be self-supporting. However, nothing seemed to curb their tendency to professional pride. In Matthew 23, Jesus boldly attacked their religious hypocrisy. His scathing denunciation of the scribes serves to warn Christians today against becoming arrogant with mere knowledge (1 Cor 8:1).