Acts 11:16Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

He is not content with this, but also reminds them of the Lord’s saying: “Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, ‘John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’”

Thus nothing new happened here, but only what He had foretold. But you will say, they ought not to have been baptized, because baptism had already been accomplished when the Spirit came upon them.

For this reason he does not say, “I first commanded them to be baptized.” What does he say? “Who can forbid water?” By this he shows that he did nothing on his own. Therefore they received what we also have.

He is not content even with what was said above, but also recalls the saying of the Lord: “You shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” He says, nothing new has happened, but only what He foretold.

But, they will say, there was no need to baptize them. Yet baptism was performed. And he does not say, “I commanded them to be baptized,” but shows that he did nothing new.

The news of the event in Cornelius's house quickly spread among the Christians and reached, among others, the Church of Jerusalem. There it stirred up serious misunderstandings. Christians from among the circumcised were perplexed and even indignant, above all because the Apostle Peter had allowed himself to go into the house of uncircumcised men and eat with them. Therefore, when Peter came to Jerusalem, they reproached him for what they regarded as defiling himself through fellowship with Gentiles. But the Apostle Peter's detailed account of all the extraordinary circumstances, in which God's will concerning the Gentiles was expressed, completely calmed their minds. All the Christians glorified God, saying that it was evident God had also granted the Gentiles repentance unto life.

This detail completes the preceding account of the writer of Acts. "Then I remembered the word of the Lord," and so forth. The words of the Lord are cited, spoken to the apostles before His ascension into heaven (Acts 1:5). Peter remembered these words of the Savior because he saw their fulfillment in the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Cornelius and his household. In connection with Peter's following words, this reminder of the Lord's words has this meaning. The Lord promised us, as His own baptism, a baptism higher than baptism with water, namely baptism with the Holy Spirit. If the Gentiles in Cornelius's house were counted worthy of this latter and higher baptism, how could he, Peter, hinder them from being baptized with water?

At the conclusion of his defensive account, the Apostle Peter says that, when the Holy Spirit descended upon Cornelius and those with him, he remembered the Lord's words about their baptism with the Holy Spirit (see Acts 1:5). By this, then, he explained the descent of the Holy Spirit before their visible baptism. Twice he likened it to the descent of the Holy Spirit upon themselves at the beginning, that is, on the day of Pentecost. It came with the same distinctive gift, namely tongues. Finally, he characteristically says: who was I, that I could withstand God, Who had done all this? According to blessed Theophylact, "in defending himself against his accusers, Peter strongly and severely puts them to shame. I could not, he says, forbid this.