John if you think it changes the meaning you are kidding yourself.
David,
I cannot understand why you believe "wage" means "punishment". I do not know why you believe it appropriate to change the actual word for something you believe it implies (to me, this seems dishonest).
So lets approach it this way:
Scripture states the "wages" of sin are death.
Some view this as a "consequence" in that they hold that through sin death entered the world.
You believe the verse shoyld have been written that the "penalty" for sin is death as you believe (by your admission) this points to a punishment and therefore Christ was punished.
Why do you believe a more narrow word denoting punishment should be used?
For example - Is it exegesis (because of the actual text) or eisegesis (because God punished Christ instead of punishing us)?