i have a few problems with this interpretation...
first of all i think the 'end of the age' -does- mean the end of the world as we know it...our age will end with fire just like noah's age ended with the flood...
i don't think jesus 'showed up' again in AD 70...his second coming has not happened yet... you could try to argue that this wouldn't count as his second coming because his feet didn't actually touch the ground...but that is basically the same excuse rapture proponents make for why jesus coming to rapture the church doesn't count as his second coming...
elsewhere in the bible it says we will meet jesus in the clouds when he comes...that didn't happen in AD 70...
you could say that the angels are messengers gathering the elect with the gospel...but the parable of the wheat and tares also depicts the end of the age...and in that parable the angels are not only gathering the wheat in the barn but also burning up the tares in the furnace... and we all know that AD 70 was not the end of all evildoers...
finally persecution did not end in AD 70...there were nine more persecutions until christianity was finally legalized by the roman emperor...and compared to the jewish persecution the roman persecutions were much -much- worse
Everything in Matthew 24 is accomplished. How can I say that? Simple. He told them...
1 Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2 “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you,
not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”
He said to HIS disciples THEN, not one stone HERE.
Everything in that passage is linked to the events in AD70. Those stones there were throne down then.
He didn't say one stone 1900+ years from now in some rebuilt temple.
He said not one stone HERE! Those stones there were thrown down in AD70.
That was a coming in judgement.
People who push for some visible second coming in Matthew 24 are actually flying in the face of what Jesus warned them about. He was clear that it wasn't going to be a physical coming at that time.
“Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many.
24 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you ahead of time.
26 “So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. 27 For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
People read the following verses and think it's referring to the visible end of the world coming. But it's not. It's using language we see throughout scripture to describe a coming of the Lord in judgement.
30 “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth[c] will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.[d] 31 And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.
Here's some examples of OT scriptures where God is described as riding on the clouds. It's Bible talk for God showed up. Also notice in Matthew 24 he said it was a SIGN of the Son of Man. A sign is a sign, not the visible reality of an actual body being seen.
Deuteronomy 33
26 “There is none like the God of [p]Jeshurun,
Who rides the heavens [q]to your help,
Psalm 68:33
33to him who rides in the heavens, the ancient heavens;
behold, he sends out his voice, his mighty voice.
Psalm 104
3He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters;he makes the clouds his chariot;
he rides on the wings of the wind;