Is that true?

Some “through the bible” thoughts from John 18.

I laugh out loud at pictures and videos of people, places, and things that fill my social media feeds. After filling his wheelbarrow at the buffet, a morbidly obese man crashes through the floor and capsizes the cruise ship. A buck with a chain saw fells a tree in which a hunter in waiting in a deer stand. Stephen Hawking and Queen Elizabeth II go MMA in the octagon.

Of course, none of this is real. It’s all AI generated. But it looks real enough to capture your attention long enough to ensure the algorithm will send more.

An email tells me I’ve purchased expensive anti-virus software. A text alerts me about an undeliverable package waiting for me at the post office. A message warns that I am about to go to prison for an unpaid highway toll.

Of course, none of that is legit. But they look real enough that someone somewhere will click on the link.

A door-to-door alarm system salesman tells me about all the break-ins in my neighborhood. Lightning flashes and thunder’s not far behind as the meteorologist predicts a nice, sunny afternoon. An advertisement announces today’s the last day of the sale.

We’ve learned to take it all with a grain of salt.

Not much has changed since Pilate asked, “What is truth?” (John 18:38). The priests claimed Jesus was a criminal. Others said he was a king. Jesus insisted that his testimony was the truth.

Pilate had learned to take it all with a grain of salt, too.

But what if truth is a person? In the upper room, before his arrest in the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus said, “I am the truth.”

Like it or not, you and I have to deal with deception. Every day. Some days, we’ll be duped. Other days, we’ll see right through it.

But we’ll never have to doubt the veracity of Jesus.