Joseph of Arimethea

There are certain characters in the bible that strike me. Joseph of Arimethea is one of those. I was listening to a book on tape the other day (a fiction novel called The Centurion's Wife), and the character of Joseph of Arimethea got choked up over his remembering his experience of bringing Jesus' body to his tomb. I read a little more about it, and there really isn't much that I would count as biblically accurate. So much of it is holy grail business and Catholic information. I am sure some of it was written with great motive, but I am not Catholic, so I can't quite get into it.
Anyway, I got choked up myself when I started picturing the process of Joseph claiming Jesus' body, the process of him preparing the body, and his motives behind it all.
I can't seem to grasp what it would have been like to carry the body of Christ after what he just went through and knowing it was all for me. It must have been cold. Did Joseph go alone? Did he have help? Was he a rich overseer through the whole process? Or, was it his hands that did all those things?
Suddenly confessing that he was a Christ follower after years of silence must have been a heavy burden to unload. This guy was not some poor guy from out of nowhere. He had a reputation, and a long career ahead of him. What was he thinking when he went to Pilate? Was he even worried about it anymore? I mean, he obviously cared about it yesterday. But now that his Lord was murdered, maybe he did it all to make up for his silence. Maybe he wasn't silent out of fear or small faith. Maybe there was more going on. No one really knows.
Then I think, did he do everything to make up for what he viewed as disloyal service to Christ? Give up his own tomb, request to bury Christ himself, reveal himself as a Christ follower?
I relate so well because of my motives. Sometimes I have to check my motives 50 times before I approach someone or make a decision. I usually call on those who know me best, because my concern is really a fancy word for judgement. Not always, but often enough to be revealed when I read a story about a guy named Joseph.