Jesus was dead.  As far as the Romans and religious leaders were concerned, it was the end of the story.  The case was closed.  But two men knew there was unfinished business.  Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus were members of the Sanhedrin (the supreme Jewish legislative and judicial court in Jerusalem) who sentenced Jesus to death: although Joseph had not agreed (Luke 23:50-51).  

Joseph was a secret disciple and Nicodemus was a secret admirer of Jesus (John 3:1-2).  They knew there was a lot more to Jesus than the authorities had seen.  They were probably motivated by grief and guilt and love to burst through their own fear barriers to ask Pilate for possession of the body.  Joseph, who was very wealthy, decided to put Jesus in the tomb which had been created for himself.  It was a cave excavated out of the rock with a millstone to seal its entrance.  The two men carried the body of Jesus and extravagantly embalmed it at their own expense.  It was the least they could do to show that they respected Him.

However, it was all in God’s plan.  Isaiah prophesied 700 years previously: “He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.” (Isaiah 53:9).  Joseph and Nicodemus may have done it to settle their consciences, but no good action can ever take away the guilt of sin.  The fact is that Jesus died so that all those who trust Him might have a clear conscience because He paid for all their sins ... even the sins of cowardice, inactivity, inaction and injustice.
 
Our human nature is easily frightened.  In order to save ourselves, we may even hide our faith in Jesus.  But there comes a point where we cannot be secret any longer.  As the Holy Spirit urges us to publicly identify ourselves with Jesus, we never know what may happen; but we do know that we have done the right thing.  And we can trust the Lord to honour us as we step out of the protective cave of our own fear.