“Those who fight God’s “justice” deny a fundamental character in it and focus only on his mercy and love. If they fight God’s justice in the name of mercy, let them know that the attributes of God are inseparable from each other. God is merciful in his justice, and God’s mercy is a just mercy. They focus on the love of God, but ignore the many verses that speak of His justice, or try to interpret them to follow the color of their own thinking! If they quote some of the words of the Fathers, they quote them in a concise manner, and take phrases without regard to context. They do the same with their quotations from the Divine Liturgy. For example: “You have changed for me the punishment into salvation!” They focus on the word “Salvation”, but they ignore that it is salvation from punishment! Then with all audacity, they say that God does not punish anyone! When they use the phrase “You have removed the curse of the law from me” they focus on the work of Christ the redeemer in removing the curse of the law from us. And they forget that God has placed those curses on anyone who violates His commandments (Deut 27:28). And when the use the words “You sent the law to help me”, they focus on the word “help”. Yet they forget that the law was helpful from a guidance standpoint, but it was also a scale of justice and judgment, so that people are condemned according to the words of that Law. I do not have time to quote all the examples of their quotations. But I say that in order to focus on the love of God, they deny all words of punishment. So they deny the punishment of death, the punishment of [God’s] curse, and all that pertains to eternal torment! They consider that God has no business or economy in all this! They say that it is man who caused all this to himself by his free will. We do not deny that man is the one who subjects himself to punishment. But at the same time it is he who has submitted himself to the judgment of God. ” – H. H. Pope Shenouda (New Heresies, Chapter 2)
Was the sacrifice of Christ a sacrifice of love or punishment?
The matter is very clear which is: The sacrifice of Christ was out of love for us, as well as a fulfillment of the punishment that was upon us, which is the sentence of death. So [the sacrifice] combines both together…There is punishment, but Christ carried it instead of us, because of His love for us. Otherwise, what is the meaning of the term “satisfy the penalty” and “fulfill the penalty”? Who satisfied the penalty except Christ? And who fulfilled the penalty except Christ? All of this was instead of us. For, as the Scripture says, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53: 6). Because of the “sin of all of us”, the Lord Christ suffered, died, and was buried. Otherwise: Why did he die? Were it not for the punishment that was upon us ?!…Here we ask: Is there a difference between the Old and New Testaments? God – as Scripture says – is “the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.“ (Heb. 13: 8) “with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” (James 1:17). If in the Old Testament “the sinful soul is to die,” the same judgment is in the New Testament also. We see this in the story of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5). We see this with the end of [the life of] Judas “the son of perdition” (Jn 17:11). We see this in the blows of Revelation…As for the expression that the Son bore the penalty of death at the hand of the Father instead of us to fulfill God’s justice, this is not an estrangement from the Spirit of the New Testament, as one author says. But this is the faith of the whole church, and the faith of its fathers and saints.” — H. H. Pope Shenouda (New Heresies, Chapter 3, pp 59-60)
16 Father’s relationship with the Son on the cross
“We return to discussing the phrase ‘The Father did not punish the son, but gave Him up out of love’ to discuss together an important topic: the Father’s relationship with the Son on the cross. The phrase ‘the Father punished his Son’ is provocative because the Son was not a sinner that the Father should punish Him. What is more correct [to say] is that the Father accepted that His Son would bear the punishment of humanity. Thus, he sent him as a propitiation for our sins (1 John 4:10). Regarding the phrase “gave Him up out of love” we cannot pass it by lightly. But stop at the word “gave”, that is gave Him up unto death of the cross, and gave Him up as a sacrifice for sin (Isaiah 53:10) to be counted among the transgressors (Isaiah 53:12 ). He gave Him up [to be] wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities “yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted “ (Isaiah 53: 5, 4) “and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb” (Isaiah 53: 6, 7). Do we pass by all this lightly and say “gave Him up out of love [only]”?! – H. H. Pope Shenouda (New Heresies)
The burnt offering was made a symbol to satisfy the heart of God, who was angered by our sins. Therefore the whole sacrifice was offered to God alone. It was forbidden for any one to eat from it. Neither the offerer, nor his friends, nor the priest himself could eat from it; but the sacrifice had to remain burning on the altar day and night till it was reduced to ashes. That fire indicated God’s justice. But changing the burnt offering to ashes was a symbol of the sacrifice’s yielding till the end in order that God’s justice might be paid in full (Lev 6:8-13). Therefore it was said about the burnt offering “It is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the Lord.” (Lev 1:9,13,17). There was also the sin offering and the crime offering, which were symbolic of God’s justice being paid in full because “Without the shedding of blood there is no remission.” (Heb 9:22). Blood was payment in full in return for death as “The wages of sin is death.” (Rom 6:23). The blood of animals was a symbol of Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ performed reconciliation between God and man. This matter was accomplished on the cross through atonement and redemption. (Contemplations on the Sermon on the Mount, page 131)