The Gospel burial narratives repeatedly call attention to time. Jesus dies late in the day, Joseph seeks the body, and burial is completed before the Sabbath begins. That urgency reflects Jewish burial practice and the weekly rhythm of Sabbath observance.
The body could not simply be left for ordinary work to continue into the Sabbath.
Jewish custom favored prompt burial, while Deuteronomy specifically required that an executed person's body not remain exposed overnight. The Sabbath began at sunset, when ordinary work ceased. Mark therefore explains 'Preparation' as the day before the Sabbath.
Joseph's request for Jesus' body and the use of a nearby tomb fit this compressed timetable. The burial can be honorable and deliberate while still being accomplished under significant time pressure.
This background explains several narrative details at once: Joseph acts promptly, the women observe where Jesus is laid, and further attention to the body waits until after the Sabbath.
The timing is not incidental chronology. Jewish reverence for burial and Sabbath observance shape what the disciples and sympathizers can do between Jesus' death and the first day of the week.