LUKE 23:52

 Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus' body. - Luke 23:52

This was probably not an easy decision.  He knew what this meant.  A member of the Council that was, well, associating himself with the Person that was just killed...by the Council.

So, why would he do this?  Was it a nice gesture for the followers of Jesus?  Was it to honor You?  Was it kind of a repentance for what his people had done?  

I mean, what would have happened to Jesus' body if he didn't take it?  Oh, I guess he would have just been buried in a pit.  So, what Joseph did was to make sure that Jesus had an honorable burial place (but, I wonder if you would have rather been buried in a pit), had a place to be buried (I guess there was a time crunch because of the Sabbath - also weird, because they were so concerned about Jewish law....AFTER THEY HAD KILLED THE SAVIOR), and maybe most importantly, gave God the opportunity for Easter!  Rising from some hole in the middle of a field - not as impressive.

In my mind, the biggest thing Joseph did was to respond to God's prompting.  There were a lot of reasons he should have said, "No."  But, he didn't.  Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus' body.