Well as I remember they did know that Jesus was the Christ.  They refused to publically acknowledge Him as such due to their pride/lust I suppose.

The Pharisees and teachers of the Law kept the Law as well as it good be kept. They were sticklers of the Law to the nth degree.

No one who lived under the law was ever criticized for observing the Law: the Law of Moses was to protect the godly people from the Civil-Military-Clergy complex abandoned to worship the starry host. That means Babylonianism. Christ in the prophets (the spiritual authority) called them robbers and parasites. This is what God had promised the elders when they FIRED God and demanded a king like the nations (Canaanites, Babylonians, Assyrians) but God knew that they wanted to WORSHIP like the pagans.

Jesus labeled the Scribes and Pharisees as hypocrites by naming names: speakers, singers and instrument players.

Matt. 23:13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
        for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men:
        for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
Matt. 23:14 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
        for ye devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: [songs, sermons]
        therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.
Matt. 23:15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
        for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made,
        ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. 

    Mark 7:6 He answered and said unto them,
            Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites,
            as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips,
            but their heart is far from me.
    Mark 7:7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me,
            teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
    Mark 7:8 For laying aside the commandment of God,
            ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups:
            and many other such like things ye do.
    Mark 7:9 And he said unto them,
            Full well ye reject the commandment of God,
              that ye may keep your own tradition.

Matt 15:7 Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,

We have redefined the word HYPOCRITE as a RACA word. However, a hypocrite first and primarily identifies a person (religious) who uses rhetoric as a weapon to get people to believe what they would not believe if Jesus or Paul told them without the witchery.  It includes all of the singing, playing, dancing, acting or all of the SCENIC or performance arts and crafts. Paul outlawed that for the "synagogue" as SELF-pleasure in Romans 15 and Jesus denounced it as the hypocritic/Pharisee "spiritual anxiety created by religious ritual." The word REST specificially excludes all performance.

    Hypokrites (g5273) hoop-ok-ree-tace'; from 5271; an actor under an assumed character
            (stage-player),i.e. (fig.) a dissembler ("hypocrite"): - hypocrite.

    hupokrinô reply, make answer [Anah responsive singing], of an oracle, 2. expound, interpret, explain
            [Peter outlawed this as private interpretation.]
            2. deliver a speech, declaim, of orators and rhetoricians, represent dramatically,
                  erôtikôn dramatôn
            3. of an orator, use histrionic arts, exaggerate, ape, mimic, Mania or religious frenzy.

          oratorical, hê rhêtorikê (sc. technê). These are the craftsmen lumped with the singers,
            musicians and "grinder" doing merchandise in the house of prayer. Rev. 18:22

    LATIN: canto I. Neutr., to produce melodious sounds (by the voice or an instrument), to sound, sing,
    play (class. in prose and poetry; to sing and play while the actor accompanies the song with gestures or dancing,
    C. Transf., of instruments, to sound, resound: 2. Of the singing pronunciation of an orator,
    to declaim in a singing tone, to sing

Matt 15:8 This people
        draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and
        honoreth me with their lips;
        but their heart is far from me.

Matt 15:9 But in vain they do worship me,
         teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

People still fall into LIP WORSHIP even when repeating a song by rote for 40 years: Songs which are REPEATED are the laded burden Jesus died to remove along with the burden laders. It is clear that such songs REJECT the songs and sermons of Christ in order to TEACH THEIR OWN DOGMAS.  A Dogma is an AID and includes singing and playing instruments.

Music was to "make the lambs dumb before the slaughter." That is being repeated for the SECOND ADVENT when people RESTORE exactly that which prophesied to happen.

gospel----

It shows that man can read the Bible---even carefully---and not understand what God is really saying at all.  For example:  The Jehovah's Witnesses study the Bible (at least they think they do)---they read the same verses we read--yet they say that Jesus Christ is not God.  How is that possible?  How can I read the Bible, and the JW's read the Bible, cover the same verses, and yet come to the conclusion Jesus is not God?

I think the answer is that the Holy Spirit has to open up and reveal Jesus to us. There are churches who are very religious.  There is a church on television every Sunday called "Iglesia ni Cristo" (The Church of Christ--origin Philippines)---they teach there is no Trinity, Jesus is not God, and that their church alone is the means to salvation.  

Their program is dedicated exclusively to opening up and reading many verses from the Bible to explain their teachings.  What is amazing though is how they make THEIR CHURCH the center of attention rather than Jesus Christ.  I watch their show in awe actually-----because despite all the Bible teaching it is very obvious the Holy Spirit is not the one teaching their doctrine----their leaders are.

So, the Pharisees had all the dogma, and tried to follow the Law to a "T", but their ears were closed to the Holy Spirit and therefore they could not see Jesus.

No one knew Jesus was the Christ before the Resurrection.

Excellent response!!!

By the way...I know someone who is a member of that church. He would come to our bible studies to try to learn the Gospel according to the Truth of the Bible but that church puts its members in so much bondage to doubt fear and unbelief, that he was more scared to be outcast from his family and friends then he was to accept the Gospel. He would get real close, he'd go home, they he'd have really scary nightmares. He believed those dreams was because he was cursed because he was committing blasphemy by accepting that Jesus and the Holy Spirit are God.
This young man was really tormented and really scared so much so he brought a creepy atmosphere into our meetings.

Eventually we had to let him go and just pray that he would overcome one day 

The Bible says their hearts were far from God.  That's why their law keeping was in vain. 

A hearty amen, brother.