You, like me, still carry some dispensational baggage.
AD 70 was the wrath of God. The time when Christ died on the cross was great tribulation.
Man, I say this in all truthfulness, but you need to reevaluate your understanding of the scriptures! Christ dying on the cross does not fit the criteria of what He said regarding the great tribulation period. His death was no doubt a terrible thing to go through in the flesh, but it does not satisfy what Jesus said regarding that great tribulation period. You are grasping not even at straws here! It is a total disregard of the information contained in the context. You remind me of 'the liar' skit on Saturday Night live where he makes up things and follows with "Yeah, that's the ticket!" Let me show you the multiple errors in that scripture which destroys the idea of Jesus being crucified as representing the great tribulation:
"So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination of desolation,’ described by the prophet Daniel (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let no one on the housetop come down to retrieve anything from his house. And let no one in the field return for his cloak."
How miserable those days will be for pregnant and nursing mothers! Pray that your flight will not occur in the winter or on the Sabbath. For at that time there will be great tribulation, unmatched from the beginning of the world until now, and never to be seen again. If those days had not been cut short, nobody would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short."
So, the characteristics of the great tribulation are as follows:
* The setting up of the abomination
* The result being those in Judea fleeing to the mountains, without going to their house or from the field to get anything
* Those days will be miserable for pregnant woman and nursing mothers
* Great tribulation unmatched from the beginning of the world until now and never to be equaled again
* Pray that your flight will not occur in the winter or on the Sabbath?
* If the days were allowed to go on any longer, no one on the earth would survive
Now, you said that Jesus dying on the cross was the great tribulation. Why would people of Judea need to flee to the mountains and not return from the field to get his cloak or retrieve anything out of his house?
Why would Jesus' crucifixion be a warning to pregnant women and nursing mothers?
Why would pregnant and nursing mothers need to pray that their fleeing not take place in the winter or on the Sabbath?
Why would Jesus crucifixion be a reason for nobody on earth to be alive if those days were allowed to continue?
As you can see by the criteria of the context, Jesus' crucifixion cannot be the fulfillment of the great tribulation.
The great tribulation is marked by the ceasing of the sacrifices and offerings and the setting up of that abomination, which by the way will be set up in the holy place, which is the room just outside the holy of holies. How does that fit in with Jesus' crucifixion as being the great tribulation? Your claim just does not fit any of the criteria. The great tribulation is when that abomination will be set up in the temple, which is also when that antichrist will stand in the temple proclaiming himself to be God or anything that is worshiped. It is this same time when the beast will make war and conquer the great tribulation saints. And is the same time when the woman/Israel will flee out into the wilderness to that place that God will have prepared for her where she will be cared for during the last 1260 days which is when the Lord will return to the earth to end the age.
The tribulation/great tribulation is aptly named that because of the severity and magnitude of the seals, trumpets and bowl judgments and their resulting fatalities.