Jesus foretold the temple's destruction
As Jesus left the temple, his disciples admired its buildings. Jesus answered that the whole structure would be demolished, down to its stones (Matthew 24:1-2). Within a generation, Rome crushed the Jewish revolt, captured Jerusalem, and destroyed the temple in AD 70. This is the most direct prophecy Christians see fulfilled in that year.
The loss was devastating. The temple had been the central place of Israel's public worship and sacrifice. Yet Jesus had already pointed beyond the building itself, presenting his own body as the true temple that would be raised after his death (John 2:19-21).
And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
Jerusalem surrounded by armies
Luke records Jesus giving a particularly concrete warning: when Jerusalem was surrounded by armies, its desolation was near. He told people in Judea to flee rather than seek safety in the city, and he spoke of terrible distress, death, captivity, and Jerusalem being trampled by Gentiles (Luke 21:20-24). These details closely fit the siege and aftermath of AD 70.
Luke also says that these were days in which what had been written would be fulfilled (Luke 21:22). Jesus was not taking pleasure in judgement. Earlier, he had wept over Jerusalem because it did not recognise the time of God's visitation (Luke 19:41-44). His warning was grief-filled and merciful.
And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
Daniel's prophecy and the ruined sanctuary
Many Christians also link AD 70 with Daniel's vision of an anointed one being cut off and a coming ruler's people destroying the city and sanctuary (Daniel 9:26). Christians understand the anointed one to be Jesus, whose death came before Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed.
There are honest differences over Daniel's timetable and the identity of every figure in the vision. Still, the destruction of the city and sanctuary is one reason AD 70 matters so much in Christian reading of Daniel. It shows that biblical prophecy was not merely vague prediction, but spoke into the real history of Jerusalem.
Did AD 70 fulfil all of Matthew 24?
Not everyone answers that question the same way. Jesus said that the generation listening to him would not pass before these things happened, which leads many Christians to see AD 70 as the fulfilment of much of Matthew 24 (Matthew 24:34). They understand the language about the Son of man coming as Old Testament-style imagery for God's judgement and royal vindication.
Other Christians believe Jesus' teaching moves from Jerusalem's fall to his still-future visible return. They point to the cosmic signs and the gathering of his people in Matthew 24:29-31, and connect them with the promise that Christ will return in the same manner he ascended (Acts 1:9-11).
So AD 70 clearly fulfilled Jesus' warning about Jerusalem and the temple. Whether it also fulfilled every surrounding end-times detail is a question faithful Christians continue to study. Read the passages slowly, notice what Jesus says about Jerusalem, and hold firmly to the shared hope that he will set all things right.
Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.