“This generation will by no means pass away until all these things occur. Heaven and earth will pass away but my words will by no means pass away.”
The destruction of Jerusalem is insignificant in the large scheme of things. The Jews rebuilt Judaism… and other Caesars came along…., and no change. In the large scheme of things, God takes action.
In Revelation, Jesus tells those Christians back then that he was “coming quickly,” and obviously people believed that literally and not that he was using poetic language with the word quickly meaning thousands of years later after they all died. They saw miracles and were convinced in their mind because of all the irrefutable evidence —but aside from all the proof to base their expectations upon, nothing happened. They all passed away and the earth and heavens remains the same to the human senses.
—Like Peter and all the other martyrs though—they were convinced, even as they were passing away and nothing they expected realized.