Did the disciples believe Jesus would rise from the dead before they saw the empty tomb?
No. The disciples did not believe Jesus would rise from the dead before they saw the empty tomb. They had no idea He was going to rise, even though they should have. Only after seeing the evidence did they believe; as yet they knew not the Scripture that He must rise again.
Les explains that up until this time the disciples did not believe Jesus was going to rise from the dead. They had no idea He was going to rise after three days, though they should have, but they did not. Then John and Peter looked into the sepulcher, saw the linen clothes lying and the napkin that was about His head, and after they saw the evidence, they believed. Verse 9 confirms, "For as yet they knew not the Scripture, that he must rise again from the dead." Later, Mary stood outside the sepulcher weeping, looked in, and saw two angels in white, one at the head and the other at the feet where Jesus' body had lain. She told them they had taken away her Lord and she did not know where they had laid Him. When she turned, she saw Jesus standing, but she knew not that it was Jesus.
Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed.
More Questions
Did the disciples know before the resurrection that Jesus would rise from the dead?
Even after Jesus had been put to death, the disciples still did not know the Scripture that He must rise from the dead; John 20:9 says this plainly.
Did Peter and John know from Scripture that Jesus would rise from the dead when they found the empty tomb?
At the empty tomb, Peter and John believed Jesus had risen even though they did not yet know the Scripture that He must rise from the dead.