Charles Ellicott Commentary Matthew 19:15

"And he laid his hands on them, and departed thence." — Matthew 19:15 (ASV)

He laid his hands on them—Mark records, as before, the act of caressing tenderness: “He folded them in His arms, and laid His hands upon them.” The words and the act have rightly been regarded, as in the Baptismal Office of the Church of England, as the true warrant for infant baptism.

More than doubtful passages in the Acts and Epistles, more than the authority—real or supposed—of primitive antiquity, and more than the legal fiction that they fulfill the condition of baptism by their sponsors, these words and this act justify the Church of Christ at large in commending infants, as such, to the blessing of their Father.

The blessing and the prayer of Christ cannot be regarded as a mere sympathizing compliance with the fond wishes of the parents. If infants were capable of spiritual blessings then, why, it may well be asked, should they be thought incapable now?