Cover All My Bases Series

I use to work with this Jewish man. He knew I was a Christian and he also confessed to me that he was an atheist. One day around the upcoming Easter and Passover holidays he mentioned to me that he was planning to go to a synagogue for the Passover feast. I asked him why he was going to do that since he told me that he was an atheist. His answer to me was that he was ‘covering all his bases. In case somehow it might be true.’

“Cover all your bases" is an idiom that comes from the sport of Baseball. In baseball, you have three bases and home plate. The team that is in the field has to have a man at each base to catch the ball and make sure players on the opposing team can't get to that base safely and stay there. These players are covering the bases.

It is to know all the options available to you. Consider and deal with all the things that could happen or could be needed when you are arranging something. Someone who oversees our action might say to us, Are you sure we covered all our bases on this?

We are continuing our study of the book of Acts. Today we are going to witness how Paul visited Athens, Greece. On observation Paul noted how these people were overly into worship idols. In sharing the good news he noticed that the Greeks even worshiped an unknown god. In effect they were covering their bases in case they missed a certain god. Paul then used this as a basis to tell them of the Real God Whom they did not know.

Having been requested to leave Philippi, Paul and his party took the Roman Road, the Via Egnatia, out of Philippi, a road which went through Amphipolis, the capital city of the region, and Apollonia, before it came to Thessalonica, a city with a population of roughly 200,000. It would seem that the reason that he stopped at neither of these cities for any length of time was because he discovered that there was no synagogue there, and possibly even no recognized Jewish meeting place. Finally he arrived at Thessalonica, roughly one hundred miles from Philippi, where on discovering that there was a synagogue he remained.

17 Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. 2 Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures

It would appear that the reason that Thessalonica was their intended destination was because they had learned that there was a synagogue there, and a synagogue meant not only Jews but God-fearers, people wide open to the Good News. Thus on arrival there they waited for the Sabbath day and then went to the synagogue. From what we have already seen it would seem that this was Paul’s usual strategy, and that he rarely employed open-air preaching except when it was forced on him by events. In those days such preaching could only too easily turn into a riot.

3 explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ.”