Jesus took the punishment because he was the one guilty.

Jesus takes the punishment for sin because he is the one who is
guilty. He takes the punishment for the sins of the whole world
because he "lighteth every man that cometh into the world"
(John 1: 9). He is the source-spirit for every consciousness
of mankind. It isn't vicarious: the consciousness that sins against
God's right is his.

The "punishment" is to be here. A lifetime here is "three days in
the bowels of the earth." You and I are him paying the price
right now -- this is the grave! And from  here he rises.

For example: you have a lovely son and daughter; they are your
delight, your world, You love and cherish your children with all
your heart, and then in the darkness of night some horrible, sick
fiend steals them away and inflicts the most horrible, unspeakably
painful and gruesome tortures and ultimately kills them in the
slowest, most grotesque way imaginable.

The fiend is caught and you are the judge. Out of left field walks
in some stranger who says, "You know, I really love this
murderous, blood-thirsty and insanely cruel fiend. I do not want
for him to suffer. I am going to take his punishment for him so
that he does not need to suffer. I'll just ask him to regret having
done all his crimes and then I will pay his debt."

And you say, "Why, sure!"

Not. You say, "That is very nice of you to offer, but this is not
a debt he is paying, it is retribution we are giving. It will be his
hide for what he did."

The stranger says, "Well, that is the thing: retribution is not
possible. You see, mine is the consciousness and imagination in
the fiend. I am actually him, and he me. And your delightful,
loving children were me, as I was them. So it was I who did
the crimes to me. My punishment is to be the three of them,
and you. Making you all conscious by my spirit, I necessarily
have to be here on my belly, as it were, eating the dust of your
horrible, sinful lives."

"Why don't you do something about it?" you ask.

"I am. I am," the stranger replies. "Another time, another place,
another life, but still my consciousnesses. More afflictions, more
direction, more inspirations -- all of my consciousnesses will
mature eventually. That I know, for I will do it. But all I do, I
do, and I recognize that, so in fact, all for everyone is ultimately
forgiven."

"Damn," you say, "I really wanted to send this guy to hell."

"I already have, my friend. I did when I became him. I'm sorry
about all ya' all's lives, but I have a wonderful book out on how
to see things from my perspective and clean up your acts. 'Acts.'
I like that."

So Jesus, the source of everything that is made and of all of our
lives, IS the guilty One. His suffering in us is not vicarious, it is
really him!