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, that appears not to be the case. Jesus did recognize that their authority was from God. He even urged his listeners to pay heed to their pronouncements and teachings just as they would do were Moses to suddenly appear. Secondly, Jesus was not opposed to the religious leaders donning their religious attires or them being addressed using their official titles (rabbi/teachers). The religious vestments were part of the institution that the leaders occupied and represented. Furthermore, as the lawful occupants of the chair of Moses, they reserved every right to be addressed as teachers (rabbi). That being said, as today’s Gospel passage makes it clear, Jesus did have a problem with the disparity that existed between what their positions claimed they were and how they lived out that identity. From what Jesus could see, they had failed to live their call as teachers of the law. 
The religious leaders were without doubt good people who were zealous about the law and about their community. They saw to it that the law was strictly adhered to. Their only flaw or shortcoming was their failure to defend the spirit of the law. In their zeal to strictly apply the law, they turned the law into an end in itself. As the Responsorial Psalm adduces, they emphasized  sacrifices and recitation of the law while casting behind their backs God's law, so to speak. As the enforcers of the law, the religious leaders forgot that the law was about correctly worshiping and having access to God. However, in their zeal and enthusiasm, 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.