‘Then there come to Jesus from Jerusalem Pharisees and scribes, saying,'
Pharisees and Scribes (learned Teachers of the Law) now come down from Jerusalem to check on Jesus' activities. It was in fact the responsibility of the Jerusalem Sanhedrin to check up on all who claimed to teach. Now it was Jesus' turn. Their opposition would bring out the difference between what He had brought and what they could offer.
The adding of the words ‘from Jerusalem' here heightens the sense of the opposition. He is now being opposed not only by his own country and by Herod, but by Jerusalem itself. Jerusalem was seen by all Jews as the centre of their religion, and as the source of truth. To Jerusalem they sent their Temple tax. To Jerusalem they made their pilgrimages. From Jerusalem they received their religious guidance. It was the centre of the Jewish world. So now Jesus was being opposed by the Teachers at the very centre of Judaism. (Mark mentions previous approaches from Jerusalem (Mark 3:22) which Matthew plays down (Matthew 12:24), but we are probably to see that this is a more official deputation, not just an investigative foray, compare Mark 7:1).