IN BARCELONA, for the first time in the history of the Summer Olympics, the USA Men’s Basketball team was comprised of professional players from the NBA. The roster included such greats as Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird. The team dominated the competition, defeating their opponents by an average of over 40 points; even the gold medal match was a 33-point blowout.

That was 1992. Naturally, things have changed since then; international basketball has grown to the point where the United States no longer takes the gold medal for granted. But that first so-called “Dream Team” was the stuff of legends. Even the practices were legendary. In one scrimmage, Magic and Jordan were going at each other, each trying to prove their dominance. In the end, Jordan outplayed Magic, and Magic conceded, “There’s a new sheriff in town.”

I know it’s stretching the metaphor a bit—maybe more than a bit—but I’d like you to consider that saying as one way of understanding what’s been happening in the gospel of Luke. As we saw previously, Jesus left Capernaum, saying that he had come to “proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God” (Luke 4:43), not only in Capernaum but elsewhere. This is Luke’s first use of the phrase “kingdom of God,” and he will use it many more times before the story is done. But we shouldn’t miss that Jesus has already demonstrated the coming of God’s kingdom—his reign and rule—even before using the words. With the coming of Jesus, there’s a new sheriff in town.

Think back to the story of the temptation in the wilderness. The devil tells Jesus that all the authority of the kingdoms of the world belongs to him, and offers to give that authority to Jesus in exchange for his worship. But in the power of the Spirit, Jesus refuses.

And in the events that follow, Jesus demonstrates that he already has authority from the Father. In Nazareth, he quotes Isaiah, claiming to be the one anointed by God to proclaim the good news of freedom, of Jubilee. And in Capernaum, he demonstrates his authority through his teaching and his miraculous acts of healing. Jesus teaches with the kind of authority the people have not experienced from the ones who were supposed to be the teachers of God’s law. He shows his absolute authority over demons and over illness. And the people are amazed at all of this.

Yep. There’s a new sheriff in town. Theologically, of course, that’s not to say that God was ever absent. But the coming of Jesus represents the presence of God in a new and tangible way.

And not surprisingly, for their own sake, the people of the town of Capernaum don’t want the sheriff to ride off into the sunset.

. . .

HERE’S WHAT I want us to consider. At the end of the previous post, I asked the question, “What makes the good news good?” For the demoniac in Capernaum, it was being freed from spiritual oppression. For Peter’s mother-in-law, it was being freed from physical oppression. And for numerous other villagers throughout the evening, it was being freed from their demons and illnesses as well.

Did Jesus heal everyone in Capernaum who needed healing? We don’t know. Perhaps the people of Capernaum wanted him to stay because there were still some who needed his help. Perhaps they were thinking about the future; who wouldn’t want such a healer to stay?

Unfortunately, however, this is an inherently self-centered approach to the gospel. The good news is good because it’s good for me personally. It’s about what God can do for me.

Imagine that there’s someone in Capernaum whom Jesus doesn’t get around to healing before he leaves. Is the good news of the kingdom still good? Or let’s bring the question closer to home. Suppose you hear stories of God healing others in response to their prayers, but your own prayers for healing seem to go unanswered. Is the good news of the kingdom still good, to you personally? Or do you feel like you’ve been forgotten or even duped?

The gospels are full of stories of authoritative teaching and miraculous healings. But let’s face it: not everyone heard Jesus’ preaching, and not everyone who needed it was healed. Jesus’ ministry was not to fix everything that was broken; that’s a future goal, and the work is still in progress. Rather, his ministry demonstrated that the kingdom of God had indeed come in power and authority.

This is part of the challenge of faith. Whenever we see a person become a new believer, we can see the power of God and his Spirit at work. Ditto for every changed heart, every healing, every answered prayer, every act of loving sacrifice, and more. All of these things encourage us to believe more deeply in what we say we believe.

But our faith can falter when our own prayers seem to be met with silence.

So, let’s start with this: in faith, we believe that God is gracious, sovereign, and active in the world. None of that changes if God’s activity in the present doesn’t happen to include answering even the most heartfelt of our prayers in the way that we would like. And to continue to live as faithful people even when we suffer such disappointment is itself a witness to the goodness of the good news.

Let’s not forget: the sheriff may be out of town, but his Spirit is still with us. And we’ve been deputized.