Before His arrest, Jesus told His followers, “The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.” (See Luke 24:7, cf. 9:22, 44, 18:31-33) The disciples did not understand these things on the occasions Jesus predicted them. In fact, these things were hidden from them, and they did not fully know what Jesus meant. (9:45, 18:34) That these things were hidden from them was evident when the women who arrived early at the empty tomb thought someone had taken the body of Jesus, not that He had risen as He said He would (John 20:2). It was not until later when the angels present at the tomb reminded them of the very words previously hidden from them that they understood and believed. What was hidden from them had been revealed to them by the Lord.
Even today people may be confronted with the empty tomb, but it is to the Word of the Lord that their eyes must be opened if they are to believe that it is empty because He is risen!