2 Corinthians 5:16

Know we. That is, we form an estimate of. In the Greek the “we” is emphatic.

Paul places himself in contrast with others, probably his opponents in the Corinthian church, who stressed the “letter” of the law and made so much of external appearances (see on chs. 3:1-3; 4:18).

After the flesh. Paul refuses to evaluate men on the basis of outward appearance.

Such considerations as nationality, ancestry, education, culture, wealth, position, and human approbation are not the standards by which he proposes to judge mankind (cf. 1 Cor. 1:26; 2 Cor. 1:17). It is the “new creature” that counts (2 Cor. 5:17). Paul now estimates men from Christ’s point of view, according to their character and attitude toward spiritual things (see Matt. 5:19; 7:20-27; 12:46-50). This new standard for evaluating men is another result of the death and glorious resurrection of Christ. The mature Christian sees every man as a sinner to be saved and restored to the image of God, and thus to be made a candidate for the kingdom of heaven. Superficial appearance is of little value; it is the heart that counts (see on 1 Sam. 16:7; 2 Cor. 4:18). From this point of view a man of immense wealth may be extremely poor, and a man of great learning altogether ignorant (see on Matt. 6:19-34; 1 Cor. 1:21-23; Col. 2:8).

Known Christ. Prior to conversion Paul had evidently looked upon Christ from a purely human viewpoint — as a despised Nazarene, a man of lowly birth and without a formal education, a pauper, and an impostor who had been rejected and crucified.

Through the centuries countless thousands of carnal-minded men have made the same mistake. Our day is replete with humanistic evaluations of Christ. Men of learning speak of Him as a great teacher, philosophers look upon Him as an oracle of truth and wisdom, sociologists credit Him with being a great social reformer, psychologists see Him as a profound student of human nature, and theologians consider Him as foremost among the founders of the world’s great religious. But to these men Jesus is at most the greatest, wisest, and best of the world’s great men. The scholarly world has put forth laborious effort designed to re-create the historical and cultural background of the human Jesus, but has largely neglected to strive for a deeper appreciation of His divinity and of His role as man’s Saviour from sin. To read the Bible as one would read other books is to see in Christ no more than a man like other men. It is possible to dwell on the known incidents of the life of Jesus, to form a lofty conception of Him, and to construct a beautiful system of ethics from His teachings, and yet miss the most important truths of the gospel. Flesh and blood does not discern in Him the divine-human Son of God and of man (Matt. 16:17). Spiritual perception alone is competent to discern spiritual things (1 Cor. 2:14). The man who is created anew in Christ Jesus (2 Cor. 5:17) does not minimize the historical Christ, but he goes beyond that conception of Him to magnify this lowly personage as Lord and God. He does this because his mind is illumined by the Spirit. “No man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost” (1 Cor. 12:3).

Now henceforth. That is, from the time of his conversion, when his viewpoint had changed. Prior to that time he had looked at Christ and other men through the narrow eyes of Judaism. As Saul, Paul had seen “no beauty” in Christ that led him to “desire” the Saviour (Isa. 53:2). The inevitable result had been hatred for Jesus as the Messiah and for His followers (Acts 8:3; 9:1).

Know we him no more. That is, from the unregenerate point of view that he held prior to conversion. Paul now knew by personal experience, not simply by hearsay.

Paul’s opponents at Corinth claimed greater authority and privilege on the basis of their association with the apostles at Jerusalem, and perhaps even with Jesus. But emphasis upon a knowledge of Christ “after the flesh” leads men to exaggerate the importance of those things about Him that were physically seen and were temporal, and to subordinate or ignore altogether the higher spiritual truths explicit and implicit in His life and teachings.