Man may his fate foresee, but not prevent ...
'Tis better to be fortunate than wise.
JOHN WEBSTER, The White Devil
The archangel Lucifer may have been many things, one thing he wasn't was easily deterred. He refused to believe the future the book laid out. He was a shepherd of the world. If he couldn't alter its future, who could?
Angelic technicalities were the bane of the Heavenly Host's existence. Because of Gabriel's influence, the mortal's son Jesus was part angel. He could heal with his touch, see on the Angelic Plane, the one on which demons and enchantments are seen for what they truly are, and he could bear to see and hear and angel's true form.
Naturally, Lucifer's first plan had been to kill the child before he garnered any followers to his religion. He found out very soon after his first attempt that he was incapable of killing Jesus. More angel fine print. This problem would take a more creative approach.
Jesus was hard to kill, but he wasn't immortal and he wasn't invincible.
Lucifer came to him when he was a young man and tried to persuade him to kill himself. He tried to make him jump from the top of a high building, goading him in a way which would have worked on any other man, but Jesus refused easily, seeming immune to his persuasion. He told Lucifer how he'd been told the Devil would try to tempt him, and he would not give in. He said the Lord had told him this, but Lucifer knew only one who would call him 'Devil': Michael.
Was his brother really trying to actively prevent his reentry into Heaven? Was he going to allow all those millions to die, as foretold in the Book? But then, Lucifer reminded himself, Michael had not read the pages God showed him. He wouldn't know of the turmoil the new religion would bring. He probably thought he was only protecting Jesus in the event that Lucifer sought him out to exact revenge.
There was only one way to get through to this mortal. "Listen," said Lucifer, dropping his sly, manipulating tone and speaking as straightforward and earnestly as he could, "your life is a mistake. My brother was playing a trick on your mother, and it…got out of hand. You're not the Messiah, you're not the son of God."
"Then why can I heal the sick?" Jesus asked. "Why can I see things no one else can?"
"Because you're part angel. You can do those things because we can."
"You're the Devil," said Jesus, but even speaking the word, there was no venom or hatred in his tone, only matter-of-fact devoutness. "You're not an angel."
"I am. I am the archangel Lucifer. Your birth was caused by my mistake, and for that I am truly sorry. But you cannot live."
"What?"
"I have seen this planet's future. Before you were born, it was peaceful. The Earth became a great and prosperous kingdom. But now that future is gone. Your existence starts a whole new religion, and several more branch from it. Wars will happen that were never intended to, billions will die before their time. Because of you. But if you die now, none of that will happen. History can take its natural course."
He took a step closer to the young man. "I know you're frightened, but you have a good heart. Please. Will you sacrifice yourself for the human race?"
Jesus looked into Lucifer's eyes for what felt like an eternity. "The Lord told me you were clever," he said at last. "I never imagined you would be so cruel. Begone, Devil. Take your tricks back to Hell."
This is you, Michael, Lucifer thought as he flew back to his underground prison in defeat. You now share mine and Gabriel's guilt.