Jesus' Cross

Jesus's cry of dereliction on the cross,"My God, my God, why haveyou forsaken me?" haspuzzled many Christians throughout church history. Jurgen Moltmann, based on the theological legacy of Martin Luther's theologia crucis, claims that all Christian theology has to bea theology of the cross.' Moltmannmay haveexaggerated a bit when he claims, "All Christian theology and all Christian life is basically an answer to this question [Jesus's cry ofdereliction] which Jesus asked as he died.''2 But he issurely right in that Jesus's cry on the cross is extremely important for Christians in life and doctrine,especially for our understanding of God and the trinitarian relationship between the Father and the Son besides our understanding of Christ's work for human salvatio.n3 John Thompson also points out the importance of the divine abandonment, "Modem theology regards the God-forsakenness and abandonment of the Son by the Father asa crucial as ect of a trinitarian theology of the cross.