What happened in the final exchange between Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and Lucifer, the fallen angel? The scriptures record only one conversation between the two. This is while Christ is fasting in the desert for forty days to prepare for His ministry. There is much to learn in that exchange. However, I am speaking of a different exchange, one that is not recorded in the gospels.
It is likely that Lucifer attempted to tempt Christ on other occasions, though not recorded. It is reasonable to assume that Lucifer had his full attention on Him and did not give up tempting during Christ’s ministry. The conversation of which I am referring occurred at the end of Christ’s mortal journey, just before the crucifixion, in the Garden of Gethsemane. Once Christ became a glorified resurrected Being, Lucifer would never have cause or ability to converse with the Son of God again. The final conversation is not recorded, in fact, I made it up. However, I deeply believe that this conversation took place between the greatest Good and the greatest Evil, when the Son of Man “descended below all things” (D&C 88:6). It was Lucifer’s last attempt to thwart the plan of God.
Once Christ began His suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane, the Atonement began. The real eternal possibility for the salvation of lost souls began. The sins of every person, of every time, of every place, were placed on the shoulders of Christ. The spiritual weight was so great that is felt physical. The depths of depression and anguish descended deeper than any other person. The suffering was so great that it caused God, the greatest of all, to tremble. Christ wanted there to be some other way, as He asked His Father that the cup would be removed from Him. It is at this precise moment that I believe the Tempter came tempting. Seeing the agony Christ was in, and hearing that He wanted the cup to pass, the Adversary offered a solution.
“Why suffer and save all creations? Why not suffer and save some, and let others face their own justice? This will surely ease your burden.” Said Lucifer.
“I was sent by my Father to do His will, and thus will I do.” Christ replied.
“I know, but surely there is some suffering that can be spared. Afterall, not every one of Father’s creatures will choose salvation, not everyone will listen to your voice and the voice of your servants. Surely, to ease your pain, you need not take on their sins.” Lucifer pressed.
“I have come to bring salvation to every creature.” Christ assured.
“So I’ve heard, but tell me honestly, do you not think there are those not worth saving? For example, why suffer for your servants, the prophets? They are mostly righteous; their sins are few compared to all of mankind. For their righteousness they will have relatively little suffering. They can handle it. Surely the mostly righteous can be removed from your weary shoulders; after all, Simon will betray you in a few short moments, David already has, Jonah ran from your calling, and Job wallowed in self pity during his trial. I could number the grains of sand before I run out of examples of your ‘faithful’ servants letting you down. You know these things to be true. Do they not deserve justice for their betrayal? Will they not be beaten with a few stripes by Father, then released to dwell with Him in His kingdom?” Reasoned Lucifer.
“I will bear the sins of the righteous. By their faithfulness they have used their agency to try and follow my example; though they are still full of folly and sin, yet I will deliver them from hell by taking on their punishment.” Christ replied.
“Well fair enough, the righteous have a chance to make it to Father’s kingdom. But what about the wicked? Those blind fools who follow my tune and perform my works? Those unholy fellows who mock your name and Father’s plan. They will never hear your voice, they will never repent, they are in rebellion against all that you preach. Surely a creature such as this is not worthy of redemption! Think of the relief you will have if you just forego their sins! Judas betrayed you, Pharoah enslaved your people, Herod tried to have you murdered as a baby, Saul actively kills those few disciples you have. Surely my followers are not worth the pain. Let me have them, they have chosen their master. They had their chance and did not choose you. Ease your pain, do not suffer for the sins who are a lost cause.”
“I know of no lost cause. I believed then, and I believe now, that those rebellious souls will repent, turn from their sin, and follow me to glory. I have faith that they will turn, I believe that they will change, I affirm with my blood that their souls are still precious to me.” Christ declared.
“I didn’t think you would give in to those groups, after all, there are so few of them. So few will be righteous and follow you, and very few will be wicked and follow me. I can see that those small numbers would not ease much suffering, for it is the middle group that weighs the heaviest on your shoulders. Far and away, they are the largest bunch; those half-asleep souls drifting through mortality barely noticing their own existence. They lack the motivation to follow you, yet are too passive to follow me. Most souls are counted among these ranks. This is by far where your true burden comes from. When it comes to my followers they contain a vast supply of motivation, which if you could flip would be turned into a righteous champion for Father. I must admit, the logic is sound in trying to redeem my followers. But these here, these lazy, lukewarm, busybodies who pace through mortality with almost no consciousness are not worth the pain. Think of it! They are by far the largest group, so much suffering can be spared. Even if you give them the chance for redemption, they will not take it. They are too non-committal. They don’t need Father to be moral, they taught themselves morality. You know well that they can never be saved in such arrogance. At lease relinquish these.” Cried Lucifer.
“I will not shrink. I came to save all mankind. Though their enthusiasm wanes, I believe, and still hold to the hope that the flame of the Spirit will burn within them, pushing them to act in accordance with my teachings. They are my children, and I bring salvation to them also.” Christ said.
“Very well, one last offer. If you will not give up the righteous, the wicked, nor those in between, I have one offer you will accept.” Satan sneered. “Give up on” -and he said your name here. “You know that this soul crosses all three groups. This soul has shown promise, but their spirit cooled, and they largely grew apathetic about your cause. They even rebelled before, and did those things the knew they ought not, and followed my lead for a season. This soul is sporadic and unreliable. Their sins are far more than you would expect from someone with their light and knowledge. All souls have value in your eyes, but surely, surely this one soul can be forgotten. Ease your burden just a little, do not offer forgiveness and redemption to this soul. There is no point, they are constantly lost, leave them be. This sort of soul is not worth saving. Will you at last, relinquish the least worthy soul of all creation?” Begged Lucifer.
“I have come to save the least soul. This particular soul, whom I know, and whom I love, is precious to me. I believe now and continue to believe that…” -and here Christ named you personally- “will follow me to great glory. While they have fragile faith in me, I have full faith in them to repent and use my sacrifice to heal and be forgiven. I will suffer the pains and sins for this child because I believe that they are worth it, worthy of my sacrifice, and will use my sacrifice to be made worthy to enter Father’s kingdom. Get behind me Satan! For I am doing my Father’s work, and I am offering salvation to all creatures, especially…” -and here again Christ said your name.
With this Lucifer lost. He could not convince Christ to allow any soul to be lost to him. He even offered the most unworthy soul, which is you. He knew it was you because he gets you to label yourself that from time to time. And although he tricked you into believing it, he could not fool Christ. Christ could not be tricked into believing that you were the most unworthy soul. Neither did he consider for a moment that you were not worth the price of salvation. Christ has faith in you to follow Him. If he did not, then He would not have sacrificed so much for you.
It is my belief that this conversation took place during Christ’s suffering. Since the atonement of Christ is so personal, I believe that Lucifer named every single one of God’s creations and asked if Christ was willing to continue suffering for that single creature. If that did happen, then I know that Christ considered each individual soul to be worth the suffering. I believe that Lucifer tried to get any soul to be forgotten, but we could not be forgotten by the Good Shepard who knows His sheep. Because Christ decided individually to take our sins upon Him, He affirms that He has faith in us – in you. Christ has a firm belief that we – that you – will repent of your sins and turn to Him. He had so much faith that we would use our agency to repent, that He offered His life for it.
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