It was against the backdrop of political and religious darkness that “the word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness” (Luke 3:2b). John the Baptist came on the scene preparing the way of the Lord when politically there was wickedness, intrigue, and conspiracies. And religiously there was a degenerate priesthood that had aligned itself with Rome for its own power and wealth. But there was Good News in the bad times and it is the same Good News in the bad times we are going through today.