Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Cast Your Burden on Jesus | The Gospels | John 19:17-27

Episode Date: August 25, 2026

Are you carrying a burden you were never meant to carry? What if worry isn’t protecting you? And what would it look like to actually give your burdens to Jesus? In today’s episode, Tanya explores John 19:17–27 and reminds us that the Savior who cared for his people from the cross still cares deeply for us today. Read the Bible with us! This year, we’re exploring the Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—and it's never too late to join! Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it so that others can find it, too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passage: John 19:17-27

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life and the time it takes to get to work. I'm Tanya Wilmuth. I want to start an anchor episode today with a verse, and I'm going to tell you the verse, and then we're going to get into the rest of our episode. But the first comes from Psalm 5522, and it's one of those verses that you can hear and hear and hear. But when you really stop to think about it and pray through it, it is a really beautiful verse to just keep with you. throughout the day and take to the Lord in a time of need. So from Psalm 5522, it says, cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you. He will never allow the righteous to be shaken. I love the prompts in there, cast your burden on the Lord. So kind of like, whatever that is, you just cast it. You're giving it to the

Lord. And the promises that he will sustain you. So no matter what you give him, he will sustain you. and he will never allow the righteous to be shaken. That is a very strong promise. And we know that if the Bible tells us that God will never allow the righteous to be shaken, we're not just talking about our earthly life, but we're talking about eternity here. So I want to tell you a little story about a time that we had some anxiety in our family and then just get into the rest of our chapter in the book of John. But when we were hiking in Colorado this summer, surprisingly, and I say this because I think we're fairly outdoorsy,

but one of my kids was just really not enjoying the hiking portion at all. And by this, I mean really, really not enjoying it to the point of like misery. I was surprised also because this particular family member is very active and physically strong. And so I knew it wasn't about the climbing or the exertion because she was actually doing far better at that than me. But there was something else going on here, you know, something like inside her head that was making her just very, very miserable. So I was asking questions like, do you feel sick to your stomach? Does your head hurt? Because I wanted to identify the root of the problem.

I thought if I knew what it was, we could address it and we could fix it, right? We could ease her discomfort in some way. We could do an Advil, a snack, some electrolyte. But it wasn't her stomach. It wasn't a headache. There was no symptom I could treat and there was no snack that was going to fix it. Because what was weighing her down wasn't something physical. that we could address at all. It was in her mind. It was just she was doing something that she didn't

feel comfortable doing it didn't want to do. Isn't it so often the same for us as well? So often, we cannot actually pinpoint the source of our discomfort. Worry and anxiety pervade our mental and our physical bodies and we cannot get out from under the feelings. And when circumstances seem out of our control, it can be easy to let the weight of that worry bring you down as if worry itself is just an outer response to stress that is meant to protect us. But the truth is that no amount of worry can actually help us. There is nothing productive or protective that comes out of worry. Worry has never solved a problem and it has never calmed a heavy heart.

Worry often leads to anxiety that activates a whole stress response in our bodies. Believers are not meant to worry. And when we worry, it actually reflects doubt in the goodness and promises of God. Now let's get biblical. Over the last few weeks, we've been going through the time leading up to enduring the crucifixion. Today's passage comes from John 19, verses 20 to 27. And the passage reveals what's going on inside the hearts of everyone involved in this stage of the passion story. Everyone from the soldiers and the bystanders to Pontius pilot to Jesus himself and the friends and family who,

are standing near the cross. Now, as you probably already know, Jesus was tortured. Not only by physical brutality, but also by the way, the crowd just completely misunderstood him. Their mockery would only be exposed later for what it fully was when they saw the evidence themselves that the one that they called a so-called king of the Jews really did defeat death and raise from the tomb. They also, though mocked him by taking his clothes and dividing them amongst himself, they cast lots for his most valuable garment, a tunic that John describes as one that was seamless and woven from top to bottom. John methodically goes through the details of the crucifixion, so we can see how prophecy lined up with history. What scripture said would happen, the betrayal of Judas and the mockery of the crown of thorns, dividing Jesus clothes by a lot,

This was not a surprise to Jesus. This was not outside God's control. Rather, it was to fulfill what had been written. From John, we learn, even in this horrific moment in human history, that God is sovereign and that God's promises come true. But we also learned something deeply relational. We also learned that Jesus cares for his people. Jesus cares for you. Let's talk about that. So Jesus had to carry the cross on his back, John says, until it was stuck into the ground.

Jesus had to hang on a tree, a horrible form of execution. And in this passage, we find Jesus speaking his first words to those who were situated around the cross. And this is what he said. When Jesus saw his mother there and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, woman here is your son and to the disciple here is your mother from that time on the disciple took her into his home so as jesus is on the cross full of pain and public humiliation he is not filled with thoughts of himself and he doesn't complain no his thoughts and his words were on someone else he sees his mother and the disciple the disciple that he loved that's john whose words were reading and jesus words were reading and jesus words towards toward them are tender and they are full of care. This is the beautiful heart of Jesus. Even on the cross, he is meeting her eternal needs and also her earthly ones. He is making sure to provide a home for her on earth once he is gone with his disciple. So the heart of Jesus, when the world was mocking and crucifying him, wasn't full of bitterness or anger. It was full of love.

I think John recorded these words for us that we would not ever truly doubt the heart of Jesus for us or doubt his care for us. Psalm 5522 gives us a command. It says, cast your burdens on the Lord, and he will sustain you. He will never allow the righteous to be shaken. Now, when I see that word cast, I think I picture my dad and my grandpa fishing and just, you know, them casting that rod and that barber going way out. into the middle of the pond. And that is the way I envision this. Just cast your cares like that on the Lord. Jesus' care wasn't just meant for Mary. It extends to you and me as well. Jesus welcomes us to bring our burdens to him. So your questions, your fears, your struggles

are never too much for him. They will never make him turn away. He says, bring your burdens to me. Cast doesn't put your strength and energy behind giving them over. not keeping them to yourself and trying to fix them on your own. So what questions, fears, burdens, and struggles do you need to bring to your Savior? Or what sin do you need to bring to the heart of Jesus? How could casting those things onto Jesus be helpful to you today? The more you discover that Jesus' heart is for you and filled with tender, caring love, the more your relationship with Him will be transformed.

The more your perspective on sin will be transformed. the more your heart will be transformed, the more your thoughts will be transformed. Jesus is showing us that all of God's promises come true, and he promises to love you to eternity. So today, when worry or anxiety creep into your thoughts, try praying Psalm 5522. Jesus, I cast my heart's burden on you. Jesus, you will sustain me. Jesus, I cast my mind's worry on you. Jesus, you will sustain me. Jesus, I cast my fear on you.

Jesus, you will sustain me. Jesus, I cast this struggle with temptation on you. Jesus, you will sustain me. Jesus, I cast my sin on you. Jesus, you will sustain me. Amen.