Lincoln said, "Don't kneel to me..."

   In examining the faith of Abraham Lincoln, we learn he recognized he was not the Savior of the African-Americans, and we learn he himself knew the Savior.  I preface this claim by saying some attribute the popularity of Lincoln in the wake of his death by wrongfully claiming he was killed on Good Friday, yet this is not accurate because Lincoln was shot on Good Friday, in the evening, yet Lincoln did not pass away until Saturday, April 15, 1865, at 7:22 am. (1)  Then the following morning was Easter, April 16, 1865.  Since he did not die on Good Friday, the American Messiah analogy loses its evidence.  It is true that once Lincoln was shot, he never regained consciousness. (2)
   Lincoln would have shunned people making him some sort of American Messiah.  Going back less than two weeks from his physical death to April 3, 1865, Lincoln entered Richmond after it was gained by the Union troops.  In my opinion, going to Richmond was one of the worst decisions Lincoln ever made.  It made him look like a conqueror, and it surely increased bitterness against him there in the weeks preceding his assassination.  Now I do not think this was his intention at all.  Lincoln liked to be actively involved; his daily schedule was intense.  And I personally think Lincoln saw his visit to Richmond as his way of supporting the country, rather than coming as a conqueror.  Yet my objective here is not to get into that history, rather I will simply say that reading about the journey into Richmond by Lincoln is one of the most surreal and incredible events I have read concerning American history.  And from the event is preserved his priceless statement about the Messiah.  Here is what Carl Sandberg said the response of Lincoln was after an African-American man called Lincoln the "great Messiah," fell on his knees, and then bowed at the President's feet: "Don’t kneel to me.  You must kneel to God only and thank him for your freedom.” (3)
   Secondly, regarding his knowledge of the Savior, we learn the Savior is the reason he wanted to visit the Holy Land.  I close with what Reverend Miner said, which Johnson got from the Lincoln Scrapbook of the Library of Congress: “Mrs. Lincoln informed me that the last day he lived was the happiest of his life.  The very last moments of his conscious life were spent in conversation with her about his future plans, and what he wanted to do when his term of office expired.  He said he wanted to visit the Holy Land and see those places hallowed by the footprints of the Saviour.  He was saying there was no city he so much desired to see as Jerusalem…” (4)
Hunter Irvine

(1) Ralph G. Newman, ed., Lincoln for the Ages (Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Company, Inc., 1960), 404.
(2) Ralph G. Newman, ed., Lincoln for the Ages (Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Company, Inc., 1960), 404.

(3) Carl Sandburg, Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years and The War Years One- Volume Edition (New York: Harcourt, Inc., 1954), 684.

(4) William J. Johnson, Abraham Lincoln the Christian (New York: Eaton and Mains, 1913), 182.