W ho is J esus ?
aroused anywhere, because it was assumed that the radar reading of the planes, to this point, was the normal El Al flight to South Africa. The planes then dropped very low to escape radar and flew directly to the airport at Entebbe. As one cargo plane rolled to a stop in the darkness—as yet undetected because the airport was not being used—its huge tail ramp dropped and out came a large, black Mercedes Benz limousine, closely followed by two Land Rovers filled with Israeli commandos dressed in Palestinian uniforms. In the back of the limousine was a bulky Israeli officer dressed like dictator Idi Amin. The license plate on the limousine was identical to that of Amin’s official car. As the party drove up to the terminal building, the Ugandan guards snapped to attention, allowing the Israeli commandos to get within a few yards of the building before the first shots were fired. Bullets were soon raining on the airport like hail in a thunderstorm. Within ten to twenty minutes, the shooting was over. The commandos ordered the hostages to the planes that were waiting in takeoff position, engines still running. As the hostages ran to the planes, great fireballs erupted in the distance as Israeli commandos blew up the eleven parked MiG jets that would have scrambled to intercept the escaping Israeli planes. As the hostages and commandos rushed onto the huge Hercules, the rear hatch slammed shut. Fifty-three minutes after the raid began, the planes began moving into position for takeoff. The hostages were saved! The rescue was not letter perfect. Three hostages lost their lives. That was deeply saddening, but all of them may have died otherwise. Remarkably, only one Israeli commando lost his life— the assault-force commander, Col. Jonathan Netanyahu. A sniper in the control tower killed him with a bullet in the back. Netanyahu gave his life to save others. Stories like this cause me to ask, what will move one person to risk death in order that another person might live? Why would Col. Netanyahu risk his life to save someone else from death? If someone is going to die, isn’t it “better him than me”? To me, this willingness to risk on behalf of others is part of the image of God in man. Something placed by God deep in the core of our being allows us to put ourselves in the helpless person’s shoes, imagine what a terror they are experiencing, and say, “If I were him, I would long for someone to rescue me; therefore, I’ll try to rescue him.” God’s image within us gives rise to this nobility, courage, dignity, and honor.
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