In all the many biblical accounts, only two cases seem exceptional. In this discussion of success, they should be considered. The first took place when people in the village of Bethsaida led a blind man to Jesus.
And some people brought to Him a blind man and begged Him to touch him. And He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when He had spit on his eyes and laid His hands on him, He asked him, “Do you see anything?” And he looked up and said, “I see people, but they look like trees, walking.” Then Jesus laid His hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly (Mark 8:22-25).
The first thing to recognize is that the blind man went away completely well: “He saw everything clearly.” There was no failure here, only a success that took place in two steps—all within moments. Why were there two steps? The passage gives no explanation, but we may note two things. The first observation has to do with the context, especially Mark 8:21. Just before the healing of the blind man, Jesus had been rebuking His disciples, saying, “Do you not yet understand?” The disciples were seeing, but not seeing, in this sense: They saw supernatural signs, but they failed to see—to understand—what the signs meant. This spiritual blindness on the part of the disciples has become an increasing problem (Mark 4:40; 6:51-52; 8:4,17,21). They needed to open the eyes of their understanding. And Jesus, who gave the blind man a second touch, would help His followers similarly to see more clearly. The second observation has to do with reporting. If a healing was not typical, that too was reported. The Gospel accounts are honest. This incident helps to assure us: Had there been failures, we would have been told, which further establishes the fact that Jesus never failed to heal a case—any case—brought to Him.