What does it mean that Paul knew Christ in the flesh?
Paul’s knowing Christ in the flesh refers to his pre-conversion awareness of Jesus’ earthly life and ministry, not a personal visible encounter. He knew what was happening in Israel and Galilee, perhaps observing crowds from the perimeter, and regarded Jesus as an imposter, blasphemer, and false teacher until the Damascus road confrontation changed him.
Les explains that Paul could speak of knowing Christ in the flesh because he knew all about Him—the events in Israel and Galilee—even though Scripture gives no indication that Paul ever had a visible confrontation with Jesus. Les suggests Paul may sometimes have been on the outer perimeter of the crowds following Jesus, and this burned him up because he thought Jesus was an imposter, a blasphemer, and a false teacher destroying the religion of the God of Abraham. After Paul was confronted on the road to Damascus, he did a total 180-degree turn and could say, “Henceforth we know Him no more.” Les notes that studying Christ’s earthly ministry is not wrong, but for us the focus is what 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
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.
What does Paul mean by knowing Christ 'after the flesh' in 2 Corinthians 5:16?
Paul's statement in 2 Corinthians 5:16 that he no longer knows Christ after the flesh means he is no longer attached to or concerned with Jesus's earthly ministry.
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.