Minimal Fact #5 of Jesus' Resurrection:*

The tomb was empty.

There are slightly fewer scholars that accept this "minimal fact." Whereas the first 4 are agreed upon by well over 90% of conservative and liberal Bible scholars, only about 75% of scholars agree to the fact of the empty tomb according to Dr. Gary Habermas, the Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Dept. of Philosophy and Theology at Liberty University.

Here's the basic evidence that the tomb was empty on Easter morning:
1) Jerusalem. The crucifixion and death of Jesus happened in Jerusalem. Later, his disciples proclaimed Jesus' resurrection in Jerusalem. That means that if his enemies wanted to put a stop to this, they could have just hiked over to the tomb, gotten his body, and put an end to this new "way." The tomb was empty or Jesus' enemies surely would have squashed this early and often. It is significant that Christianity first sprang up in the very city where the events took place, NOT in some far away city where the empty tomb could not be falsified.

2) Enemy support. This means that there is evidence in Scripture that Jesus' enemies indirectly confirmed that the tomb was empty. Read this from Matthew 28:12-13, "When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’" Instead of leading the way to the tomb to point out a dead body, the priests told the soldiers that they were to say the body was stolen. There would be absolutely no need to make this story up if the body were in the tomb.

3) Women. The first witnesses to the empty tomb recorded in Scripture were women. In the first century AD in Palestine, the status of women was not what it is today. Here's a quotation from Josephus (Antiquities 4.8.15) that gives you a sense of the culture of the time: "But let not the testimony of women be admitted, on account of the levity and boldness of their sex...since it is probable that they may not speak truth, either out of hope of gain, or fear of punishment." The testimony of women was not valued. So, if you were going to make up a story about a guy coming back to life, you wouldn't make women the first witnesses to that miracle in that culture. The Gospels probably record women as the first witnesses because...they really were the first witnesses and the authors are just being truthful. The role of women here is a little embarrassing in that culture, so why report it if it isn't true?

So most scholars agree that the tomb was empty. Most scholars also agree that:
1) Jesus died by crucifixion.
2) The disciples really believed that Jesus rose from the dead.
3) The skeptic, Paul, converted and became an apostle.
4) James, the skeptical brother of Jesus, converted and became an apostle.

These are the 5 minimal facts of that the vast majority of conservative and liberal scholars who work in this field agree to. 

Next time I'll discuss how the best explanation for these data.

*Adapted from The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus, by Habermas & Licona.