Matthew 23:2-3

²“The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat.

³So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.

Matthew 23 records Jesus’ most sustained and severe public critique, directed not at Rome or sinners, but at the religious leadership of Israel. He exposes the scribes and Pharisees for their hypocrisy, their love of status, and their burdening of others with laws they themselves do