Albert Barnes Commentary Mark 8:23

"And he took hold of the blind man by the hand, and brought him out of the village; and when he had spit on his eyes, and laid his hands upon him, he asked him, Seest thou aught?" — Mark 8:23 (ASV)

Led him out of the town. Why this was done the sacred writers have not told us. It might have been to avoid the gathering of a crowd, and thus to have escaped the plots of the Pharisees who were attempting to take his life, chiefly on a charge of sedition and of inciting the people. For this reason, Jesus chose to perform the miracle alone; thus showing that while he did good, he desired to do it in such a way as to avoid the appearance of evil and, at the same time, to prevent ostentation and the malice of his enemies.

Spit on his eyes. Why this was done is not known. It was evidently not intended to perform the cure by any natural effect of the spittle. It was to the man a sign, an evidence that it was the power of Jesus. The eyes were probably closed. They were perhaps "gummed," or stuck together by a secretion that had hardened. To apply spittle to them—to wet them—would be a sign, a natural expression of removing the obstruction and opening them. The power was not in the spittle, but it accompanied its application.

Saw ought. Saw anything.