Jesus told His disciples that the wars, famines, diseases, etc., that were to come upon the Jewish nation, were just the beginning of the “birth pangs” (sufferings) that they would endure prior to the destruction of the city. The Jews of that day understood from prophecy that they would experience what they called the “sufferings of the Messiah” in the days of their Messianic deliverance. By Jesus connecting this “suffering motif” with the destruction of Jerusalem and the judgment of the nation, he was indicating how and when the deliverance of Israel would to come.
The Institute Of Fulfilled Eschatology