I now find the concept of vicarious punishment to be repulsive.
There is a prolific poster on here named Terry. He went to prison for avoiding the draft (and alternative service) at the behest of Watchtower policy.
He wrote one time that his dear mother asked the FBI agents (or some such authority) if she could somehow serve his sentence for him because he was so young. It was a natural desire for someone with a strong enough love bond.
The idea of substitutionary atonement is ETCHED or hardwired into our consciousness. It is the basis for many of our greatest literary stories. And, it is as simple as a mother wishing to take the punishment due her son for herself......which is exactly what God did.
In the classic book and movie Last of the Mohicans, the theme of substitution is illustrated to the fullest. In the below clip, the Indian Cheif had just declared that the brunette daughter of the British general would die to avenge the loss of Magua's children. Then, Daniel Day Lewis tellls the chief in English that he would offer himself to die in her place.
However, the british officer had to translate the request into french to the French-allied chief. In that translation, he did not do it correctly. Instead, he offered himself to die in her place. Both men loved her. The chief agreed to the exchange.
When they took the british officer to be killed, Daniel Day Lewis understands what the british officer had done, and starts screaming "Take Me, Take Me". This is where the clip begins:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tiKM4fxY1U
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.- Jn 15: 13