Throughout His ministry, Jesus vigorously exposed and denounced the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, who paraded their charitable deeds, praying, and fasting as a theatrical display to win the praise of men. They sought to give the appearance of being godly, but they were actually blind to the truth of God. A composite portrait from Jesus' denunciations reveals their ostentatious alms-giving, disfigured faces during fasting, and hypocritical attempts to trap Him by pretending to be perplexed about religious issues. The Pharisees emerged around 175 BC under Antiochus Epiphanes of Syria, who attempted to stamp out Jewish religion. Their name means The Separated Ones, as they dedicated their lives to meticulously observing every rule and regulation the scribes had developed. They were dedicated legalists for whom religion was the observance of every detail of the law, yet also men of desperate earnestness, accepting an impossibly demanding life of separation from ordinary affairs to keep the law. The Talmud distinguishes seven types of Pharisees, six of whom exemplify hypocritical attitudes. The Shoulder Pharisee obeyed the law to be seen by men. The Wait-a-little Pharisee always had an excuse for delaying good deeds. The Bruised or Bleeding Pharisee avoided looking at women to maintain piety, bruising himself in the process for a reputation of exceeding devotion. The Pestle and Mortar or Hump-backed Pharisee displayed ostentatious humility, tripping over obstructions. The Ever-reckoning Pharisee tallied good deeds as if God owed him. The Timid or Fearing Pharisee obsessed over outward appearances to evade divine judgment. Only the God-fearing Pharisee truly loved God, though still bound by legalistic observance. In the Gospels, the terms Pharisee and hypocrite are nearly synonymous, with Pharisees pretending to be authoritative on righteousness and the law. Jesus challenged their assumed position, exposing their pretense and emerging as a higher authority. Their zeal was without knowledge, driven by pride, and they defended their stance aggressively, ultimately collaborating in Jesus' death. Jesus criticized the Pharisees for loading burdensome laws on people without offering assistance, making religion an intolerable burden. They shut the door to the kingdom of heaven with their hypocrisy, teaching false beliefs and making religion a science of evasion. They lost a sense of proportion, tithing herbs while neglecting justice, mercy, and faith, and focused on external cleanliness while ignoring internal greed and self-indulgence. Jesus called them whitewashed tombs, beautiful outwardly but full of hypocrisy and lawlessness within. The Pharisees' righteousness consisted in outward observances of ceremonial and traditional law, neglecting justice, truth, purity, and holiness of heart. Jesus taught that unless our righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees, we will not enter the kingdom of heaven, emphasizing a righteousness seated in the heart, genuine and rooted in obedience, purity, honesty, and love.

Jesus Christ delivers a scathing indictment of Pharisaism in His pronouncements, exposing the deep flaws in the religious practices of the scribes and Pharisees. He condemns them as hypocrites, blind guides, fools, and a brood of vipers, highlighting their failure to follow their own teachings while burdening others with strict requirements they do not uphold themselves. Their actions are driven by vanity and a desire for social status, focusing on outward appearances rather than moral values. Their teaching drives people farther from the Kingdom, and their misguided zeal makes their converts twice as corrupt as they were before embracing Pharisaism. Christ further criticizes their obsession with minor details, such as tithing individual seeds, while neglecting the weightier matters of judgment, mercy, and faith. Their perspective is so distorted that they prioritize trivialities over significant moral issues, and their greed turns gold and money into their true focus and god. They exploit the weak, even devouring widows' houses, while presenting a facade of righteousness. Their religious efforts amount to nothing, having a negative impact by worsening the spiritual state of those they influence. Christ declares their religious house desolate, bereft of God's presence or influence, despite their self-righteous belief in their own perfection.

The Pharisees, as described, were a corrupt, hypocritical, and haughty class of men, with few exceptions, who placed great value on vain traditions alongside the written law. They fasted twice a week, on days tied to supposed events of Moses, and sought prestige through outward displays, such as broad phylacteries and prominent seats in synagogues. Jesus Christ instructed the multitudes and His disciples to observe what the Pharisees taught when consistent with the law of Moses, as they sat in Moses' seat with authority to explain the law, but warned against following their actions, for they did not practice what they preached. He criticized them for binding heavy burdens on others while refusing to bear them themselves, doing works to be seen by men, and loving titles like Rabbi. Jesus further condemned the Pharisees with eight woes, highlighting their failures: they taught traditions over Christ's doctrines, exploited the poor, sought proselytes for their own brand of religion, valued temple gold over its true meaning, meticulously tithed minor herbs while neglecting justice and mercy, focused on outward cleanliness while remaining inwardly corrupt, and appeared righteous externally but were full of hypocrisy within. He called them serpents and a brood of vipers, questioning how they could escape condemnation for their superficial righteousness, which lacked the depth to live by the law's true intent. In a parable, Jesus contrasted a Pharisee's self-righteous prayer, boasting of fasting and tithing while despising others, with a tax collector's humble plea for mercy, showing that true righteousness requires humility and recognition of sin, not reliance on external acts. The Pharisees' legalistic mindset led them to argue over the greatest commandment, missing the simple truth Jesus offered: to love God with all their heart, soul, and mind, and to love their neighbor as themselves, upon which hang all the law and prophets. Their lack of love, compassion, and fellowship separated them from the people, focusing solely on strict law-keeping without concern for others, a stark contrast to the deeper standard of righteousness Jesus set forth.

Throughout His ministry, Jesus vigorously exposed and denounced the hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees, who paraded their charitable deeds, praying, and fasting as a theatrical display to win the praise of men, seeking to give the appearance of being godly while blind to the truth of God. They were ostentatious when giving alms, intending that people would praise them, and when fasting, they disfigured their faces to be noticed. They also attempted to trap Jesus by pretending to be perplexed about religious issues, revealing their insincere motives. The Pharisees, emerging around 175 BC as a sect meaning the separated ones, dedicated their lives to observing every rule and regulation devised by the scribes, withdrawing from ordinary life to keep the Judaic law. They were dedicated legalists for whom religion meant observing every detail of the law, and men in desperate earnest about their faith, accepting an impossibly demanding life. Yet, they developed the faults of legalism alongside virtues of self-dedication, with some being arrogant legalists and others burning with devotion to God. The Talmud distinguishes seven kinds of Pharisees, illustrating attitudes to avoid: the shoulder Pharisee, displaying good deeds for reputation; the wait-a-little Pharisee, excusing delays in good deeds; the bruised or bleeding Pharisee, avoiding women to the point of injury for piety; the pestle and mortar Pharisee, ostentatiously humble; the ever-reckoning Pharisee, tallying good deeds as debt against God; the timid or fearing Pharisee, dreading divine punishment; and the God-fearing Pharisee, loving God but self-deceived by human reasoning. In the Gospels, the terms Pharisee and hypocrite are nearly synonymous, with Pharisees presenting themselves as authoritative on righteousness and the law, compelling in their zeal and loyalty to God, yet threatened by Jesus' higher authority. Jesus challenged their pretense, exposing their zeal without knowledge of the Kingdom's mystery, and they defended their stance aggressively, ultimately collaborating in His death. Jesus accused the Pharisees of abusing their power by devouring widows' houses, taking the best synagogue seats, expecting marketplace greetings, and demanding the title of rabbi. He criticized the heavy burdens of law they placed on people without offering assistance, making religion a burden. Their hypocrisy shut the door to the Kingdom of God, preventing entry for themselves and others, as they focused on minute details like tithing spices while neglecting justice, mercy, and faith. The Pharisees were preoccupied with external religious practices, cleansing the outside of the cup while ignoring internal filth, remaining full of greed, self-indulgence, and pride. Jesus likened them to whitewashed tombs, beautiful outwardly but full of dead men's bones and uncleanness within, disguising their spiritual decay. Their converts were drawn to Pharisaism, not to God, missing the true purpose of the law due to additional rules and regulations. Jesus' parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector in the temple highlights their boastful observance of the law and contempt for sinners, as the Pharisee prayed admiring his own purity, while the tax collector, begging for mercy, was justified. Jesus declared that unless one's righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, entry into the Kingdom of God is impossible, emphasizing that true righteousness is seated in the heart, unlike the outward observances of the Pharisees.