<p>7:18<em> And he said to them: Are you without understanding also? Do you not perceive that whatever from without goes into the man, it cannot defile him</em>- The world would not perceive (Mk. 4:12); but they did, or so the Lord told them. And hence His distress that they did <em>not</em> perceive (Mk. 7:18; 8:17); and yet He said that blessed were their ears and minds, because they understood what had been hidden from so many. Surely He imputed more perception to them than they really had.</p>