What changed Paul so that he no longer knew Christ after the flesh?
Paul’s confrontation with Jesus on the road to Damascus changed him completely. Once Saul of Tarsus saw who Jesus really was, he made a total 180-degree turn, and from then on he could say he no longer knew Christ merely after the flesh.
Les explains that Paul had known about Christ in the flesh—he knew what was going on in Israel and Galilee, and may even have been on the outer perimeter of crowds following Jesus. He thought Jesus was an imposter, a blasphemer, and a false teacher destroying the religion of the God of Abraham. But once he was confronted on the road to Damascus, the man did a total 180-degree turn, so he could say, 'Henceforth we know Him no more.' Les notes there is nothing wrong with studying Christ’s earthly ministry, but for us the emphasis is that which follows His death, burial, and resurrection.
Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.
More Questions
What did Paul mean by saying he no longer knows Christ after the flesh?
In verse 16, when Paul says "we know no man after the flesh, though we have known Christ after the flesh," he is referring to his former life as Saul of Tarsus, the persecutor and religious Pharisee who knew about Jesus of Nazareth and His ministry, but after his revelations on the road to Damascus and in Arabia he no longer refers to Christ in His earthly ministry.
Why could Paul say he had once known Christ after the flesh but no longer did?
Paul lived contemporary with Jesus, so he had known Christ after the flesh, but from the point of His death, burial, and resurrection onward he no longer looks back and knows Him in His earthly ministry as such.
Did Paul know Christ after the flesh?
Paul could say 'though we have known Christ after the flesh' because he lived at the same time as the earthly Jesus, but from Christ's death, burial, and resurrection onward he no longer looks back and knows Jesus in His earthly ministry.