Observe whatever the scribes and the Pharisees tell you, but do not follow their example for they preach but do not put to practice what they preach. While it would appear, as has been thought, that Jesus had no good words for the religious leaders of his people, it is not the case. Jesus did recognize their authority to be from God. He even urged his listeners to pay heed to their pronouncements and teachings just as they would do were Moses to certainly appear. Secondly, Jesus was not opposed to them donning their religious robes or to them being called teachers of the law. The religious vestments were part of the institution that they represented. Furthermore, if they occupied the chair of Moses, they had the right to be called teachers (rabbi). That being said, as today’s Gospel passage makes it clear, Jesus did have a problem with the disparity that existed between who they claimed to be and how they lived their lived that identity. They failed to live their call as teachers of the law.
The religious leaders were without doubt good people who were zealous about the law. They saw to it that the law was strictly adhered to. Their only flaw was their failure to defend the spirit of the law. In their zeal to apply the law, they turned the law into an end in itself. They emphasized sacrifices and recitation of the law while casting behind their backs God's law (Responsorial Psalm). They forgot that the law was all about correctly worshiping and having access to God. In their zeal, they turned the law into an insurmountable barrier and a burden that the people could not afford to carry. Jesus’ criticism of them was thus meant to call to their minds the right religion that the Lord expected them to teach: redressing the wronged, hearing the orphan's plea, and defending the widow.