And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? (Matthew 27:46, KJV)
It is hard to find a more heart-rending passage of Scripture than this outcry from the Crucified Christ, one of his Seven Last Words from the Cross, recorded in the Gospels. Biblical scholars may soothe the harshness of his words by identifying them as the opening line of Psalm 22, but they show the dying Christ in all his humanity tempted by ultimate despair. To illustrate this key Passion text, I have selected a semi-abstract book plate from Russian Printmaker Yuri Ljukshin, now on view on the East European Ex Libris page, depicting a Crucifixion of galactic dimensions. In this image of cosmic loneliness, Christ appears as a stylized, elongated figure suspended on a cross above the star-spangled blackness of infinite space, where cries for help go unheard. (John Kohan)