“He destroyed his enemies by dying for them and conquered death by allowing death to conquer him.”

–A.W. Tozer

 In light of Holy Week, it is fitting to reflect on redemption.

In a Christian context, redemption is the process of making all things new (Rev 21:5). It is the story arch of the Bible from beginning to end – a loving God come to rescue his people through substitutionary sacrifice, which freely offers a perfect righteous record and restores the relational unity for which we were made.

I recognize people find this either offensive or comforting. It is an inexorable matter to behold.

Regardless of belief, the concept of redemption is strongly linked to healing. For naturopathic doctors who consider the whole person, it is difficult to avoid. Everyone knows brokenness of body, mind and spirit, and longs for whole-being healing, whether they realize it or not.

As we experience life, we inevitably acquire wounds by not being cherished or nurtured by parents, not receiving appropriate discipline or boundaries, or being directly abused or rejected.

The resulting beliefs of these wounds are many: no one could understand, if I trust I will be hurt, or I am unlovable, incompetent or unworthy. Often, we are not fully aware of these beliefs, nor the ensuing walls of self-reliance we build around them.

We eventually arrive at a doctor’s office for a mental-emotional breakdown or physical malady.

But the whole-being healing for which we yearn cannot come from therapy. Medicine can heal bones, back pain and depression, but it can never cure our deepest level of hurt: our inner sense of inadequacy.

Defeating the roots of evil and their poisonous effects in our lives comes only through one source.

As Pope Benedict XVI said, “Whoever wishes to heal man must see him in his wholeness and must know that his ultimate healing can only be God’s love.”

To an ND student studying how to heal, this claim is indeed both offensive and comforting.

It is offensive because nothing I am studying could heal my patients at their deepest level. The best adjustment or acupuncture will not keep someone from knowing the deteriorating effects of living in a broken world and eventually, from sickness and death itself.

On the other hand, it is absolutely liberating. True healing at the deepest layer is not in my power, whether for myself or another. It comes from above and has been finished (John 19:30).

Through the substitutionary sacrifice of the cross – the greatest act of redeeming love – we have freely available to us the whole-being, everlasting healing for which our souls yearn. In the meantime, suffering becomes meaningful because our light and momentary afflictions prepare for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison (2 Cor 4:17).

It is a hope-filled narrative that expands on the naturopathic message of healing. Redemption goes beyond maximizing wellness. It reaches into the depths of our hearts to restore the most central element to our human nature: our relationship with our Creator.

As billions of people commemorate this week, may we consider the invitation.

Read more about National University’s Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine program here.