Thomas and his “Fake News” Claim

“Unless I see the mark of the nails in His hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into His side, I will not believe” (John 20:25)

I recently spent a month living a lie, and it was the best month of my life. My bathroom scale broke in the most gracious way possible. It was showing numbers I had not seen in years. I knew it was lying, and I knew I had to replace it, but I decided to live in that digital delusion for a solid thirty days.

It’s funny how we handle news that sounds too good to be true: we either embrace the lie because it feels good, or we reject the truth because it feels impossible. We call it “fake news” to keep from getting our hopes up. I’m certainly not the first person to stare at a miracle and demand a recount. Just look at the Apostle Thomas. When the other disciples claimed that they had seen the Lord, he didn’t throw a party; he called “Fake News” on the spot. He replied: “Unless I see the mark of the nails in His hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into His side, I will not believe” (John 20:25). He was not being difficult, he was just refusing to believe ‘news’ that seemed scientifically and spiritually impossible. He treated it like the ultimate piece of “fake news.” Thomas needed a physical encounter to accept a truth he could not comprehend.

Even though we always place all the doubt in poor Thomas, the other disciples also had a hard time believing that Jesus had resurrected. When Mary Magdalene told them that Jesus had appeared to her, “they did not believe” (Mark 16:11). And later, Jesus appeared to two others as they were walking to the country. “They returned and told the others; but they did not believe them either” (Mark 16:13). Even when the two that met Jesus on the road to Emmaus recounted what had taken place, and as they were speaking Jesus stood in their midst, the disciples “were startled and terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost” (Luke 24:37).

It turns out that when the stakes are high, we all eventually reach a point where we demand proof. We usually think of “doubting” as a negative thing, but sometimes it’s just a defense mechanism against a reality that feels too big to grasp. I wanted my old scale to be right because I was afraid to find out the truth; Thomas wanted his friends to be right, but he was terrified they were mistaken.

This past weekend, reality finally caught up to me. I “bit the bullet” and bought a new scale, only to be met with the very disappointing and offensive truth. I stood on top of it staring at the screen, ready to go to the trash can to salvage the old scale. Why silence a source that tells you exactly what you want to hear, even if it’s fake news? But all good disinformation campaigns must come to an end; therefore, I knew that the “Fake News” era was over, replaced by a reality I am currently considering impeaching.

Copyright © 2026 Christy Romero. All rights reserved. If you thought of someone while reading this, bless them by sharing it with them.