Acts 10:48

Acts 10:48. He commanded them to be baptized. St. Peter did not administer the baptism himself. This was in harmony with the practice of St. Paul, who seems to have been very anxious lest baptism or any outward ordinance should be unduly elevated in comparison with the preaching of the Word. See 1 Corinthians 1:14; 1 Corinthians 1:17. On such an occasion as that which is recorded in Acts 2:41, there must have been a large amount of subsidiary ministration. How many persons were baptized on this occasion at Cæsarea we do not know.

Then prayed they him to tarry certain days. This residence of some days in the house of Cornelius is to be marked as a time of the utmost importance for St. Peter's future life, and is to be compared with the remarkable ‘fifteen days' which he and St. Paul spent together afterwards (Galatians 1:18). During this short residence at Cæsarea, he must have learnt much that he never knew before concerning the Gentile mind, especially in its aspirations after religious light and peace.