“They ate, they drank, they married, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.”
And what happened in ‘the days of Noah?' They ate, they drank, they married, they were given in marriage. In other words life seemed to be going on as normal. They continued blissfully unaware of Noah's activities in their midst. They ignored both his building of the Ark which condemned the world (Hebrews 11:7) and the proclamation of his word among them (2 Peter 2:5). They were complacent in their sin. And then Noah entered into the Ark and the flood came and destroyed them all.
‘They married, they were given in marriage.' This may especially have in mind Genesis 6:1-4, in which case it means that they not only ate and drank, but also that they engaged in the deepest sin. On the other hand the comparison with Lot might suggest that it is simply referring to the everyday things of life. This last view would seem to be confirmed by the use of a similar phrase in Luke 20:34-35 where the point is made that marrying and giving in marriage is something that happens on earth, but not in Heaven.
If we compare this with what has previously been said in Luke 17:22-25 what does it tell us? What we have described here is a period during ‘the days of Noah' when the majority were living in blissful unawareness, even while the presence of Noah preaching among them was ignored. They simply continued in sin, eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage. And then came the climax. The one who had been among them went into the Ark, and the final result was that Judgment came on them. This suggests that we must see the comparative ‘days of the Son of Man' as representing a similar period of unawareness while Jesus was preaching among men, followed by His being taken away, in His case by suffering, death and resurrection (Luke 17:25), resulting finally in His coming in final Judgment (Luke 17:24), this last following a period during which His own have bewailed His absence (Luke 17:22).
If we add to this that the Son of man was accused of eating and drinking among men (Luke 7:34) along with public servants and sinners, the parallel is even clearer. This means then that the event which follows ‘the days of the Son of Man' is the crucifixion, resurrection, enthronement and coming again, all seen as one activity, which is how God saw them. By this He ‘entered the Ark' and made possible salvation for all those who would follow Him. It was for all those who would follow Him without looking back (Luke 17:31 compare Luke 9:57-62), and for all those who would ‘enter the ark' with Him by taking up the cross and following Him (Luke 17:33 with Luke 9:23-24).