NO! There was indeed an absence of the veneration of Jesus’ tomb. This is best explained by the fact that Jesus’ bones no longer lay there. ...The point is that even though the location Jesus' tomb was preserved in Christian memory, there was no veneration of this place because there was no memory of where Jesus’ remains were remembered to lie (because the tomb was probably empty), where they might be preserved and honored. That is not in doubt historically. If Jesus' bones were still in the tomb, it surely would have been venerated by his followers as was common practice back then. Moreover, even if it is possible that Jesus was buried in an unwholesome criminals’ gravesite, this would not make it likely that his followers wouldn't have venerated the gravesite. It seems very unlikely that a people capable of redeeming so shameful an event as the cross, couldn't have just as easily redeemed burial in a trench where the presence of Jesus’ bones would have sanctified the site. Thus, the lack of veneration for the tomb of Jesus counts in favor of the empty tomb (Modified from WLC).
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