Mark 15:43 “Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus' body.” (NIV)
Joseph had to be one of the most isolated men at this moment. Jesus had gone from famous, adored, worthy of kingship to abandoned, reviled, and murdered in a very short period of time. To proclaim His name days earlier would have made Joseph one of the crowd, but to associate with Him now put his wealth, power, and possibly life at risk. John 12:42-43 “Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved praise from men more than praise from God.” We do not know Joseph’s beliefs about Jesus, but from seeing his boldness to identify with Him, we can assume he had progressed beyond infatuation with the man of Jesus to seeing Him as the Son of God! Romans 1:4 says, “Who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.”Joseph did not have the Holy Spirit to bear witness to Jesus, but you have the Holy Spirit to be bold in proclaiming Christ. Let us passionately seek Christ, so that in every opportunity you may boldly profess His name and represent Him as the risen Son of God!
Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." (NIV)