WHY was Jesus cricified?

[frasierc]

So, how does this mechanism work?

He symbolically pays everything while functionally paying nothing to somehow erase the real sins? That sounds a lot like me paying for a mansion with a giant novelty check that isn't actually worth any money.

Good question - I don't think this is a symbolic payment. What is the payment required? The payment required of Adam was physical death and estrangement from God.

This is exactly the payment that Jesus pays. He bears the estrangement from God and the physical death that humanity was required to pay. That's why when he dies his final words (It is finished) is actually one word in Greek and was a word used in business to mean your debts have been settled.

A human analogy might be: if you crashed my car rather than requiring you to pay the cost of fixing (which would be a just thing to do) I show you mercy and bear the cost myself. In one way I am just simply forgiving you for crashing my car - but in order to do that I'm paying the consequences your action deserved.