John 18:28-29 Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment: and it was early; and they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled; but that they might eat the Passover. Pilate then went out unto them, and said, What accusation bring ye against this man?
These verses are part of the "trial" of Jesus, but they contain another interesting element. The Jewish leaders DID NOT go into Pilate's palace because to do so would make them unclean and unfit for the annual Passover. They understood that they must participate in Passover in order to be accepted by the Lord. Therefore when they went to Pilate, they required that he come out to them to discuss the situation.
Now compare that to the following: Mark 15:43 Joseph of Arimathaea, an honorable counselor, who also waited for the kingdom of God, came, and went in boldly unto Pilate, and asked the body of Jesus.
Joseph made an appearance (came) and boldly entered (went in) the palace and came near (unto) Pilate to plead/demand/ask for the body of the Lord. This action meant that Joseph, on purpose, cut himself off from the Passover in order to bury the body of Jesus. He touched a dead man AND he entered the "house" of the unclean. The cost of coming to Pilate marked, for Joseph, a commitment that few today can imagine. His entire religious life was abandoned when he did what the Jewish leaders knew could not be done: enter the judgment hall to get permission to bury the Lord's body.