Jesus is talking about the destruction of the temple and a time of hardship around Jerusalem, and there’s nothing metaphorical about this. It happened. Within 100 years of Jesus’s death, the temple would be destroyed, false messiahs would appear (and be confirmed by respected religious leaders) and things would get bad for those living in the area. The alternative could be taking Jesus at his word, following him in his way of living, and avoiding that path. Of course, not ever one did believe and those hard times are on the horizon.