1When he entered again into Capernaum after some days, it was heard that he was at home. 2Immediately many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even around the door; and he spoke the word to them. 3Four people came, carrying a paralytic to him. 4When they could not come near to him for the crowd, they removed the roof where he was. When they had broken it up, they let down the mat that the paralytic was lying on. 5Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”
6But there were some of the scribes sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, 7“Why does this man speak blasphemies like that? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
8Immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you reason these things in your hearts? 9Which is easier, to tell the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven;’ or to say, ‘Arise, and take up your bed, and walk?’ 10But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic— 11“I tell you, arise, take up your mat, and go to your house.”
12He arose, and immediately took up the mat and went out in front of them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”
13He went out again by the seaside. All the multitude came to him, and he taught them. 14As he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office. He said to him, “Follow me.” And he arose and followed him.
15He was reclining at the table in his house, and many tax collectors and sinners sat down with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many, and they followed him. 16The scribes and the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with the sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why is it that he eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?”
17When Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are healthy have no need for a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
18John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting, and they came and asked him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples don’t fast?”
19Jesus said to them, “Can the groomsmen fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they can’t fast. 20But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day. 21No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, or else the patch shrinks and the new tears away from the old, and a worse hole is made. 22No one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the skins, and the wine pours out, and the skins will be destroyed; but they put new wine into fresh wineskins.”
23He was going on the Sabbath day through the grain fields; and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of grain. 24The Pharisees said to him, “Behold, why do they do that which is not lawful on the Sabbath day?”
25He said to them, “Did you never read what David did when he had need and was hungry—he, and those who were with him? 26How he entered into God’s house at the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the show bread, which is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and gave also to those who were with him?”
27He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28Therefore the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”
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).