Here are the 5 Minimal Facts of Jesus' resurrection.* This means the vast majority of scholars in this field agree to these, whether they are conservative or liberal scholars.
1) Jesus died on a Roman cross.
2) Jesus' disciples had experiences that they interpreted as his resurrection.
3) The enemy of the church, Paul, converted to becoming a follower of Jesus.
4) James, Jesus' brother, went from being a skeptic to a faithful leader in the church.
5) The tomb was empty on Easter morning.
One thing about the empty tomb to realize is that it was not the empty tomb that convinced Jesus' followers that he had risen. The first reaction to seeing the empty tomb on Sunday morning was confusion. In Luke 24, some women go to the tomb to put spices on Jesus' body. When they get there, they find the tomb empty. Verse 4 says, "While they were wondering about this," the angels show up to tell them about the resurrection. Why were they standing there wondering about the empty tomb? Because they did not expect it!
Mark 16:3 adds the detail that the women were discussing the problem of who was going to move the stone for them so they could anoint the body. They did not expect the tomb to be empty.
In John 20 Mary Magdalene is crying because she is upset that she says someone has taken the body, and Mary doesn't know where the body was taken. Mary did not expect the empty tomb.
It was not the empty tomb that convince the early followers of Jesus of the resurrection. On the contrary, it was when they met Jesus that they were convinced. It was Minimal Fact #2 that caused the disciples to believe that Jesus rose from the dead, not Minimal Fact #5.
The Apostle Paul, for instance, may not have even seen the empty tomb at all. The tomb being empty did not convince him. It was the resurrection appearance of Jesus to him that changed him.
*Adapted from The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus, by Habermas & Licona.
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