They were smart people.
They knew the scriptures.
Why did they not recognize Jesus Christ?
It is God that opens ... Where would we be if they had accepted their Savior?
Peter was made aware by God as to the identity of The Lord Jesus and then immediately failed miserably to understand the sacrificial aspect of the Cross.
There was one woman who seemed to know that the path of our Lord involved His death for she anointed His feet with ointment and tears. I see that as enlightenment from God.
The two disciples on the road to Emmaus were opened to the scriptures and also the rest of the disciples before the ascension.
Saul of Tarsus was going about persecuting and killing Christians and had been at the stoning of Stephen when on his way to Damascus The Lord Jesus knocked him off his horse in power, changed his name to Paul and sent him to the Gentiles.
This is the time for the nations to be grafted in. That day will end soon and God will again turn His gaze to Israel. Imagine the joy when the scriptures are opened to them and they realize that apart from them the nations would have been lost.
Remember that Israel was chosen and paid a very heavy price for showing the rest of us the holiness of God. As well Israel did to The Lord Jesus what God had decreed must be done. God was not caught unawares by Israel and they had no power over The Lord Jesus accept it be given them by God.
The sacrifices ended when the one sacrifice for sin was made on Calvary's Cross. One day Israel by the hand of God will understand why. What a glorious day that will be!