Part of the traditional understanding of the atonement is based on the thought that the holiness of God is utterly incompatible with the unholy and unclean condition of mankind, and unless a thorough cleansing takes place, God cannot grant us access into His immediate presence.
How does Jesus' parable of the lost son fit into this picture? Considering his immoral lifestyle and very recent contact to pigs, the prodigal was the epitome of uncleanness and unholiness in Jewish thinking. How can the Father - who unmistakably represents God - run towards and embrace his son in this condition?
The context of the parable is pointing us to a deliberate response of Jesus to the complaint of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law that he's welcoming sinners and is eating with them (Luke 15:2). Did Jesus overturn an actual incompatibility described in the Old Testament or is he correcting a misconception they had from the very beginning?
If Jesus was God in the flesh as John describes (John 1:1+14) and could touch and welcome the unclean, it seems rather obvious that the incompatibility is perceived as an insurmountable barrier more from our end than His! Isaiah thought he would most certainly die in God's presence but didn't. The cleansing of his lips with the burning coal from the altar as the act of God's atoning work took place after he already had seen God (Isaiah 6:1-7).
I think it's important that the cross of Jesus is not misunderstood as the appeasement of an angry God through a perfect sacrifice, and only because of this sacrifice God can look at us now with love and favor. This is a heathen picture of what sacrifice means and accomplishes. The atonement is something God initiates from the motive of love, not in order to be able to love us (John 3:16).
Accordingly, faith has its roots in forgiveness, not the other way round. How often have I heard the phrase "God does forgive us - but ONLY if we believe!" As if faith was something we could produce to satisfy God! I believe Paul got it right when he emphasized that the word of the gospel creates faith (Romans 10:14-17). We need to hear first that we already ARE loved and accepted before we can move towards Him and experience cleansing and change.
The Prodigal received a clean robe - the best robe even! - not as a condition before he could be welcomed but as a gift of His loving Father who embraced him while he was still unworthy and unclean.
What the Father said to Jesus at his baptism and on the Mount of Transfiguration, are words that He's saying to us today as well: "You are my Beloved!"
